


Second Try

by Linzero



Series: The Second Time Around [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Bisexual Barry Allen, M/M, Oral Sex, Pansexual Leonard Snart, Rimming, Slow Burn, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:53:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 68,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24849328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linzero/pseuds/Linzero
Summary: After Barry is sentenced to imprisonment in the Speed Force, he is able to see how his life might have played out if he'd just made a few different choices.  When Team Flash opens a portal to help him escape, Barry just can't resist the temptation to try a do-over.  The starting point to fix Barry's mistakes?  Ferris Air.  If Barry can make the tiniest change to how it all went down, maybe he can save his loved ones and his future.  But tiny changes can snowball, and there might be room in his definition of loved ones for a few enemies too.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Cisco Ramon/Lisa Snart, Eddie Thawne/Iris West, Ronnie Raymond/Caitlin Snow
Series: The Second Time Around [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797688
Comments: 147
Kudos: 435





	1. Prologue

Barry entered the Speed Force expecting to be tossed straight into Savitar’s prison cell – do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars. It didn’t sound like the Speed Force planned the same torture as Savitar and Wally; no continuous play of watching his parents or allies die, but Barry wasn’t expecting a red carpet welcome either.

He didn’t emerge in the imitation of the hospital where they’d left Jay. Instead, he was treated to a shade of Thawne’s Time Vault, with the braille-like decorative dots being replaced by spots of light. Barry reached out and tentatively touched the console, half-expecting the article about his disappearance to pop up – this time with the current date and Iris’ byline with only one surname attached.

The only screen that came up was blank. “Hello?” Barry called. Where was the physical embodiment of the Speed Force to scold him about his failures for all eternity? “Uhhh, Gideon?” Barry tried.

The monitor came to life. **Not quite, Mr. Allen.**

Barry stared at the text sadly. There was his Speed Force homunculus, this time dressed as the Artificial Intelligence his future self would have created. He wouldn’t be around to invent Gideon now. Another loss in a lifetime of mistake-begotten losses.

**How can I be of service?**

“What is all this?”

**This is the representation we felt was best suited to your needs. From this point you will be able to view all the possible timelines of your Earth.**

“All possible…” Barry’s voice trailed off in confusion. “I thought you were against the timeline being altered. That’s why I’m here.” He ran his hands through his already messy hair.

**Every choice made affects the timeline on its current trajectory, shaping the future as it will be. But the alternate futures of the countless choices not made are not lost to us. All of these are available for our study.**

“If you can see all the possible futures, how do you know which one is the one that’s supposed to happen? I know I shouldn’t have changed the past, but how do you know that it wasn’t one of the choices that the timeline was supposed to have?”

The Speed Force Not-Gideon paused briefly. **You’re here now not because of trying to change the past, but for the problems that arose when you refused to accept the new future. In trying to change it back, your actions caused too many wounds to the timeline as futures were remade and merged and torn apart. If you had made your change and allowed yourself to accept the new resulting future, you and the timeline would have not have suffered so much.**

“So if I’d just stayed in Flashpoint and lived the rest of my life in that future without changing anything else with my powers, everything would have been okay?”

Not-Gideon hummed. **With only one wound to the timeline, and no further alterations it would have healed naturally. the resulting loss of your connection to the Speed Force would have served as a sufficient punishment.**

“Great.” Barry mumbled. “Me trying to fix my mistakes does worse harm than making the mistakes in the first place. Typical.”

**Yes.**

“So what do I do now?”

**You will watch over time with us. The guardianship of all pasts, presents and futures will become your responsibility, as it is ours.**

Barry shrugged off his suit jacket, and rolled up his sleeves. “Okay.” He steadied himself with a deep breath. “How do we get started?”

# ⚡❄⚡

It was odd being in the Speed Force, feeling time pass and not pass. Barry never got hungry, he never got tired; but it felt like months passed as he stood in front of the screen and watched his friends and family’s possible lives unfold. He saw the future where Cisco and Caitlin rebuilt S.T.A.R. Labs into a Meta-human crisis centre, training new Metas in ways to safely use their powers for good. There were also futures where Caitlin left to join a Meta Human Mafia, and Cisco was killed fighting against her. He saw Joe marry Cecile and have another daughter – a beautiful baby sister for Wally and Iris. There were also futures where the West family fell apart – Wally leaving first, then Iris; neither able to reconcile with the reality of Barry’s unending imprisonment.

When glimpsing the futures they could/would have without him hurt too much, Barry turned his eye to the past. Barry had been so amused to see how the butterfly effect was real – tiny choices growing into huge effects on the timeline as they grew from one another. Not-Gideon taught Barry how trace back the “threads” from events to see where the first choice that created the chain of events was. That quickly became addictive.  
The tiniest of things shaped world changing events. It was beautiful. Oliver changing his coffee order allowed him to discover he had a son. Rip choosing to send Savage’s meteorite in into space on an empty Waverider leading to a ninja-bridal party wedding ceremony for Sara and Nyssa.

And Barry couldn’t help but poke at old wounds. It was more than with a little curiosity that he followed the threads back from the present, trying to see what one (not-obvious) choice could have maybe prevented so much tragedy.

But not all of it. Barry was dismayed to see that not even the prevention of his own birth would have allowed his mother to live to see old age. No Barry meant no Reverse Flash murder, but there were so many illnesses and accidents that befell her in any iteration. And every iteration. His Flashpoint had been such a violent aberration of all possible Timelines. Nora Allen’s life was completed with the life she gave to the Flash – because time wanted it so. “Time wants to happen.” Was Rip’s favourite saying. Well, Barry wanted to kick time in the balls for the unfairness of it.

But so many others – H.R., Snart, his father, Ronnie, Eddie, even Savitar – they all had more possible alive futures than dead ones. Barry was fascinated to follow the threads for those.

Because so many of them merged down the line. And that was the possibility that had Barry nearly climbing the walls. He had painstakingly tracked all of it down into one moment: Ferris Air.

Apparently, the events of Ferris Air were pivotal. Or at least a moment in the events was – there were so many fluctuations that Barry didn’t know the exact decision that would have fixed everything. (Or at least put them on the track where everything could be fixed.) But now that he knew the potential of it – boy, wasn’t that an itch Barry wished he could scratch. Maybe he should’ve started a support group; a speedster rehab for Time Travel addicts. That might have solved Central City’s problems a lot more than training new high-speed heroes.

Barry smiled ruefully at the thought, and dialed up the Ferris Air threads again. If he was going to spend eternity watching “what could have been’s”, he might as well make them the nice ones.

As the simulation started again, the wall lights flickered and dimmed. “Uh, what’s going on?” Barry watched the screen glitch and reload. “Gideon?”

The lights snapped off, and Barry was left with only the glow of the monitor confirming that he was still in the facsimile Thawne room and not lost in a black hole. “Hello?”

Not-Gideon was uncharacteristically silent. Barry tentatively poked at the console. “Anyone home?”

A reflection of light bounced off the monitor, and Barry spun in place, amazed that the Speed Force would actually provide a door after all this time. He didn’t even care to where, it was just a nice idea to see some new surroundings.

A blue portal rippled in the air; stuttering and unstable but not destructive. How unlike the Speed Force.

Barry reached out tentatively to touch the edge, and the portal actually pulled lighting from his fingertips, using the energy to widen itself. “Shit!” Barry hissed, trying to shake the sting out of his hand. Definitely not from the Speed Force, if it was searching for external energy to complete itself.

And what would happen if it did complete itself?

Barry zipped laps around the small room; building up a charge. His odds probably weren’t good for where the portal would lead, but after so long standing in the not-Time Vault, the risk was worth it. He was going to make himself crazy just watching the monitor forever.

Barry stopped and threw the lightning at the portal; it crackled around the edges and flared brightly, doubling in size – and threw an orange projectile straight back at him, at nearly the same speed as Barry’s throw.  
Ducking, Barry heard the orange baseball shatter the monitor behind him. Welp, there went his entertainment if he didn’t manage to escape. Barry peeked behind the console. The sphere lay humming quietly, wrapped up in a glowing blue cord that dangled from the remains of the monitor. Barry touched it delicately, intending to free the sphere and the thread broke free and dropped into his hand. Barry shivered as a clear image of the Saints and Sinners Bar sign flashed into his head. The thread was from the Ferris Air scenario.

The portal crackled behind him ominously, and Barry spun in place, jamming the thread into his pants pocket. The edges of the portal were dimming and Barry could see that it was starting to close.

No time to examine the ball. Hell, with his luck, it was probably a grenade anyways. Barry lived up to his alter-ego and made a fast decision. Zipping twice more around the room to build up momentum, he pushed off the console with both feet and launched himself into the middle of the portal. The not-Time Vault disappeared and he fell straight into a sea of black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a thought about what Barry was doing in the Speed Force prison that cooked his brain. And I wanted a reason for why the Legends can mess with time as much as they please and Barry essentially gets flogged every time he even considers it. But they tend to change time and run (leaving it the way it is) and Barry does look at the outcome and will go back and try again if it's not a 100% desired outcome.


	2. Saints and Sinners and Static Electricity

Barry landed painfully on a pile of garbage bags, missing the sharp corner of the dumpster by a wish. Not that it helped any – his whole body hurt. A migraine cooked at the back of his eyes, one of his legs felt like it was on fire, and he could taste blood in his mouth that appeared to be free-flowing from his nose – he could feel it running down his neck and soaking into his shirt.

But the worst was his head – it felt like his brain had been put through the spin cycle. A jumble of images swirled in his mind’s eye and drained out through his bleeding nose. So much chaos, and death and marriage? Who was getting married? Who died? Nobody was dead. But someone was going to die. Barry rolled on his side and gagged, body trying valiantly to throw up, but failing because his stomach empty. The dry heaves didn’t help his head any. Dr. Wells was going to kill someone. No, not Dr. Wells. The Reverse-Flash was going to kill several someones. That’s why he was here.

Where was he again?

Barry managed to push himself up, and staggered against the building, using the bricks to hold himself up. He tried pinching the bridge of his nose to stop the flow of blood, but that just threw off the little balance that he had. It was easier to clutch at the wall with both hands and follow it until he found a door. It swung inwards, and Barry swung with it, landing on the dirty hardwood floor with a smack.

It was quite the entrance; all activity ceased immediately. Lucky for Barry, it was still early and the bar was nearly empty, so he wasn’t disrupting the important drinking binges of the local gang. But unluckily for Barry, (who could now see the “Saints and Sinners” sign above the bar) there was still business to be interrupted, games to be paused, and drinks to be forgotten.

A circle of unfriendly faces collected above him, and a trickle of worry finally broke through the pain in his head of what he was going to do next. He wasn’t in great shape to defend himself normally, and he wasn’t in costume to openly use his powers.

No one was quick to attack. In fact, with the combination of horror and disgust that was evident on their faces, Barry figured that the only way any of them wanted to touch him was to toe his body back out the door. Barry was wondering if that would be the best case scenario that would come out of the situation when Leonard Snart’s visage appeared above him like an unwanted angel.

“Barry?”

Judging by the look on Len’s face, Barry was even worse off than he’d assumed. The unflappable Captain Cold was staring down at him with a look so shocked he was bug-eyed - it was so funny it made Barry want to laugh. When their gazes met, Leonard froze, attempting to look upset at the intrusion into his territory, but while his mouth was pinched in annoyance, his eyes flickered between worry and concern, unable to complete the mask.

“Sn-“ Barry’s mouth filled with blood and he choked, unable to finish. That was all it took. Snart reached down and hauled Barry to his feet, supporting him while Barry fought to clear his airways, retching and spitting out blood.

“One of yours, Snart?” A biker holding a pool cue raised an eyebrow. Leonard didn’t hesitate.

“Yes. And when I find out who’s messing with my crew, this,” Leonard snarled, indicating Barry’s condition “is going to look like a goddamn love tap. Spread the word.” He grabbed a fistful of Barry’s jacket and yanked him towards the backroom.

On the way, Barry caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror over the bar and nearly reeled back in fright. He was so pale the skin around his eyes was turning grey, and any exposed skin under that was red with blood. His shirt was also soaked with it. He looked like he’d been mugged. And murdered. And then set on fire, judging by the glimpses of thigh peeking out the charred remains of one pant leg.

It was quite the grisly visage. No wonder he’d been able to scare off the bikers.

Leonard half-dragged, half-carried Barry inside a storeroom that had been converted for more utilitarian purposes. There were still shelves holding liquor, but there was an equal amount of shelves that held guns, free weights, acetylene tanks and supplies that Barry really hoped weren’t for making explosives. Saints and Sinners really was a wretched hive of scum and villainy. Barry nearly giggled as Leonard dropped him on a stained and sagging couch. His head had been hurting for so long his mind was beginning to swim.

“Why aren’t you healing, Flash?” Leonard rummaged around the room’s supplies until he found an old towel and tossed it to Barry. “And why the hell are you fighting out of uniform? All that blood wouldn’t show up on your fancy red suit.”

The towel was stained worse than the couch, but Barry pressed it to his nose anyways. “Empty.” Leonard looked at him quizzically, and Barry coughed to clear his throat and buy his brain some time to catch up. “I need to eat 100, 000 calories a day to use my powers. I’ve used everything up.” Barry giggled drunkenly. “My gas tank is empty.”

Leonard looked down at him in disbelief. “You mean all this time the best way to beat you is to wait for a day you skipped breakfast?” He turned back to the shelves, digging through the liquor. “I think I feel cheated.”

Len removed a six pack of beer from one shelf and carted it over to the couch. It was Barry’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “You’re kidding me.”  
“Not yet.” Leonard produced a jar of protein powder from the shelf with the weights and proceeded to pour in the beer one can at a time and give it a shake. He then offered the whole mess to Barry with a sardonic smile. “Bottom’s up.”

“Oh my God, that’s disgusting.”

“It’s also at least 30,000 calories. It might not get you off to a running start, but at least you’ll stop looking like you were run over by a cement mixer.”

Barry looked at the jar with more than a little trepidation. He so did not want to drink the vomit inducing nightmare that was in the jar. But he also didn’t want to pass out and be completely at the mercy of Captain Cold. If he did, Barry was certain that the very best outcome would be him waking up with a dick drawn on his face. But this wasn’t high school, and the best outcome never seem to happen to him. He sighed. Maybe with his nose plugged the way it was it wouldn’t be so bad. He took a deep breath, raised the jar to his lips and took four deep swallows as quickly as he could.

Oh dear God, it was worse.

Barry gagged, fighting to keep the concoction down. It was beyond terrible. It tasted like how he imagined the crotch of the Flash suit would taste after he’d been running in it nonstop for a week. The only thing that could possibly be worse would be if he let it come back up – with all the blood he’d already swallowed, it was not going to season things for the better.

Barry breathed through his mouth in Lamaze-like puffs as his stomach rolled alarmingly. He clenched his teeth as it lurched once, twice and finally (thankfully) decided that having the revolting but filling beer shake was better than having nothing. His stomach still churned, but it was from working on the food, rather than protesting it. Barry grimaced and took another long drink.

It took him nearly 20 minutes to finish the jar. By the time he choked down the last dregs, the look on Leonard’s face had changed from an amused look at Barry’s expense to an impressed one.

“Excellent control of the gag reflex, Flash. Another one of your super powers, I presume?”

Barry snorted and was filled with immediate regret. “Very funny Snart.” He cautiously pulled the towel away from his nose. The beer-shake nutrients were working – the flow had just about stopped. Leonard stood up from the chipped barstool that he had placed in front of Barry and walked behind the couch. Barry couldn’t see what he was doing, but he could hear water running. A wet towel was offered over his left shoulder, and Barry traded it for his murder scene one. “Thanks.”

Leonard reappeared, carrying a first aid kit. “Feeling better?”

Barry rubbed gently with the towel, cleaning his face. He was pretty sure the bleeding had stopped. His head was throbbing a little less as well. “Starting to, yeah.”

“Think you can stand?”

Barry sniffed gingerly. Snart probably wanted him out of his hair as fast as possible. But even though his blood was finally clotting, it would still take some time to refill. His head might be improving, but he was still feeling a little woozy. “Maybe.”

Leonard sat next to him on the couch and set up the kit on the bar stool. “Then it’s time for you to drop trou. Let’s go.”

Barry’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. Leonard glanced at the look on Barry’s face and his own expression cracked into one of repressed laughter.

“For your _leg,_ Barry.” A wicked smile twitched at the corner of Leonard’s mouth. “You need to take off your pants so I can see your leg. If you can’t stand, we’ll have to cut the hole a lot wider, and that’s not going to make walking around this place any easier for you.”

Barry chewed the inside of his cheek, uncertain. Of all the goddamn bad luck. Only he would wind up _needing_ the most attractive of his enemies to cop a feel. At least he was so out of blood, there was no way his body would betray him with the worst timed erection in all of history. Right?

Leonard rolled his eyes so hard at the hesitation that Barry was surprised he didn’t detach his retinas. “Look kid. I’ve worked with Mick for decades, and I know my burns. If you can smell cooked meat, it’s going to need more than just a band-aid.” 

Barry closed his eyes in defeat. What the hell, he figured. The worst Snart could do is snap a picture of him in his underwear, which would only embarrass him as Barry Allen. Nothing he was wearing or doing could tie him to his alter-ego, and Barry was willing to bet that if it couldn’t be used to put the screws to the Flash, then Snart wouldn’t think it worth the effort.

Barry pushed himself to his feet, only wobbling a little. Leonard reached out to steady him anyways, so Barry had no trouble undoing his jeans and sliding them down his legs.

Both of them gaped at the wound in confusion. “I didn’t think the phones exploded that way.” Leonard finally offered a puzzled quip. Barry just shook his head. 

“My phone’s in my back pocket with my keys.” He looked down at Snart. “I don’t keep anything in my front pockets.”

They both looked back at his leg. He had a halo of red skin that had come from his pants burning. That was obvious. What wasn’t obvious was exactly what had started the fire in the first place. In the middle of the slowly healing skin was a coiled pattern of skin so much paler than normal that Barry would swear it was glowing. Whatever had been in his pocket had exploded outwards with fire, and imprinted on his skin inwards with either radiation or magic. The design resembled a loose knot, tangled around itself with one end trailing towards Barry’s knee, the other disappearing upwards under the singed leg of his boxers. 

Both Barry and Leonard considered the implications silently. “I’m going to get rid of the other towel, Scarlet.” Leonard finally slapped both hands against his thighs and stood back up. “While I’m gone, maybe you wanna do a quick spot check.”

And the second Snart’s back was turned, that’s exactly what Barry did. The second end of the knot did trail down his inner thigh and waaaaay too close to his groin for comfort, but because his underwear hadn’t actually caught fire (hooray for cotton-polyester blends!), the burn didn’t extend with it.

“So are you packing a glow stick now or what?” Leonard tactlessly announced his return to the couch with more glee than Barry would have liked. “’Cuz I gotta say, you could really change the meaning of the Flash name if you-“

“It’s fine! I’m fine.” Barry interrupted. Trust Snart to take a time out to think up new puns. He glared a little at the older man. “It’s all contained on my leg.”

Leonard smirked. “Thank goodness. I can’t imagine the neutered version of you would any less annoying than the original.” He took up his old seat, and took a roll of gauze and a bottle of burn ointment from the kit. Barry bet that was something they had to purchase by the bucket thanks to Heat Wave. “So who popped you anyways? New Meta? Dealer with a lucky right hook? Papa West?” 

Barry scowled at Snart for that last suggestion. “Of course not! I was-“ Barry frowned, realizing his train of thought was missing several cars. “I was on my way here because-“ Why had he come to Saints and Sinners? There had been a reason, hadn’t there? Barry’s head ached with the effort.

Snart glanced sharply up at Barry, ointment covered hands reaching for the burn. “Can’t you remember?” His hands were surprisingly gentle as he stroked the balm over the burn.

Barry shook his head slowly, the ache growing worse the harder he tried to remember. “No. I think maybe you’re right about me bumping into a new Meta.”

“Well, of course, I’m ri-IGHT!” Leonard’s voice cut out in a yip as his fingers made contact with Barry’s new glowing tattoo. A large blue spark of static jumped between the two men and they both cried out in surprise, jumping away from each other. Barry lost his balance and landed heavily on the ground, while Leonard leapt off the couch, shaking his hand briskly.

“What the hell was that?”

Barry couldn’t answer, he was too busy clutching his head and writhing on the floor. His brain throbbed in time with his leg, blanking out his vision with pulses of white.

White.

White.

White like Thawne’s Time Vault.

Shit!

“Barry? Barry! Kid, snap out of it.” 

Barry grabbed for Snart frantically. “He’s going to kill them!”

Leonard had flinched back at Barry’s touch, wary of another shock. But Barry’s panic brought them both back into focus.

“Who’s killing who, Scarlet?” Leonard pulled Barry back upright. “Someone after Team Flash? Cisco? The good doctor Snow?”

“It’s Doctor Wells. He’s the Reverse Flash.” Barry whispered, starting to tremble as he remembered why he’d come to see Snart. “He’s going to kill everyone if I don’t help him. The Team, the Metas, the City.” He felt his eyes water. The pain in his head was not letting him salvage any dignity. “He killed my mom.”

Leonard paused, and even in his present state Barry could see the wheels turning. “I thought your old man killed your mom years ago.”

Barry pulled his body back up onto the couch. “No. I’ve always known something – someone else was there that night. Turns out it was Wells. He was there to kill me to keep me from becoming the Flash. Instead he killed my mom.” Barry took a deep breath. “Then he found out he needed me to become the Flash so I could help him get back home. So he blew up the particle accelerator to give me speedster powers, and trained me until he thought I was fast enough.”

“Fast enough for what?” Leonard was rubbing his sore hand. “To get him home? Where is he from, Mars?”

“The future.” Barry pressed his palms against his eyes. “He’s a speedster from the future. And apparently he used to be able to run fast enough that he could time travel.”

Leonard looked at Barry in quiet horror. “So he tried to kill you as a kid so the Flash would never exist? That’s just fucked up.”

“And now he needs me to run him back into the future. But if I do that, there’s a chance that I will rip a black hole in reality and it will swallow the city.” Barry sat back against the couch and sighed. “And if I don’t, he’s going to kill everyone I know, starting with the Meta’s we’ve imprisoned in the pipeline.”

Leonard quirked an eyebrow as he reached for a roll of gauze. “Is that really going to be a bad thing for you?”

“They don’t deserve to die, Snart!”

“They also don’t deserve to be stuck in solitary confinement without due process, _Barry._ ” Leonard gestured for Barry to raise his leg so he could start wrapping it. “If you can’t put them in jail, and you can’t let them go, then what exactly was the plan with keeping them at your lab? ‘Cuz I think you are confused about the legalities of unlawful detainment.”

Barry acknowledged the problem that Team Flash had been working on for the past five months with a nod. The two of them cringed together as Leonard cautiously began to wrap Barry’s burned thigh – but the mark had disappeared with the one large static discharge and it seemed all was now safe. “We wanted to rehabilitate them, but we’ve had more problems keeping the city from constantly being in danger than time to work on any of their anger issues. Really, we need to build more of a rapport the police. They need to trust us more with Cisco’s tech to help them catch Metas without me. Then maybe they’ll let us put the Meta blockers at the jail where everything would be safer and a lot more legal.”

“Don’t you already have a rapport with the police?” Leonard quirked an eyebrow. “I mean, since you _already work for them.”_

“As Barry Allen. Not as the Flash. The Flash is still a vigilante can of worms, as far as the police are concerned.”

“So be your own intermediary. If Barry Allen is part of our remarkable police force and part of Team Flash, then surely you would be a reliable go between. You’d be able to keep Papa West and all the other nice detectives up to speed on all the Meta and Flash activity.”

Barry’s shoulders slumped. “They wouldn’t listen to me. They all think I’m crazy for believing my father is innocent. I don’t think any of them would trust me if I started talking even more about people with magic powers.”

“But once you stop Flash-Lite, won’t that be proof enough?”

“ _If_ I can stop the Reverse Flash.” Barry mumbled. Leonard tied off the bandage and sat back with light tap on Barry’s knee.

“Now, now. You’ve managed to stop me enough times. I’m sure a fellow speedster won’t be half so taxing. After all, the team can experiment on you until they get it right.” Leonard rolled the kinks out of his neck. “You’ve got the brains on your side to accomplish all kinds of heroics. So I’m guessing you’re here because of what’s missing.” Barry rose, and started yanking his pants back up his legs.

“And what am I missing?”

“Muscle, Flash. You need more muscle for your little project.” Barry blinked at Leonard, brain still skipping a little. “You want my help saving people. I think you’re forgetting which one of us actually likes being heroic.”

“Maybe I am.” Barry looked up from re-zipping, and nodded to Leonard. “Because I need you to help me save them by illegally moving them from one prison to another.”

Leonard stood so they were almost nose-to-nose. Barry was uncomfortably aware that they were exactly the same height; giving them perfect eye contact. “Why would I want to do that? You must have guessed by now that I’m not a fan of incarceration, justifiable or otherwise.” Snart’s icy blue eyes bored deep into Barry, challenging.

“Aside from keeping some very dangerous people from destroying _your_ city, helping me means I’ll be in your pocket. You’ll be able to ask a favour of me as the Flash or as Barry Allen, whatever you need, as long as it sticks with our original deal.”

Leonard chewed that one over silently. “Anything?”

Barry nodded. “As long as what you’re doing or what you need me to do doesn’t hurt anyone, it’s yours.” He watched Leonard’s eyes glitter subtly. Oh, Snart liked that. He probably was already making a list. What could he want? Snart already had that stupid diamond. Or was it an emerald? His sore head gave another twinge.

“Deal.” Leonard put out a hand. “Though don’t expect this to be a regular thing. Favours are nice, but spending too much time with you hero types makes me nauseous.”

Barry rolled his eyes, but took the proffered hand. “I promise I won’t ask you to save lives, possibly including your own, ever again.”

“Good.” Leonard gave Barry his signature smirk. Barry smiled back involuntarily. “Now let’s go get some real food into you so you can speed your way back and tell Team Flash I’m in. I’ll get Lisa and we’ll meet you back at S.T.A.R. Labs.”

Barry just shook his head. “So there is food. What was the point behind the beer-protein shake then?”

“That was just hilarious.” Leonard strolled towards the door, crooking a finger over his should for Barry to follow. “But the food here is pretty good. I hope you still have your wallet, because you’re buying.”

I’m sure the pickled eggs are fantastic.” Barry muttered as he trailed after Snart obediently. Hopefully this at least wouldn’t cost him an arm and a leg. As for his to be named favour, well that one only time would tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Leonard's the type of "no one gets to mess with my nemesis but me". Coming to Leonard already beat up and in future danger would just arouse that protective instinct that Leonard has for his family/friends/team/playthings.


	3. Ferris Air Favours

Barry flopped back against the cool sheets of the lab’s medical cot with a groan. It had been a bizarre night. So many things had gone wrong, one after the other, right up until they’d gone incredibly right for the victory of a lifetime. Barry was sore and exhausted, and most of all, so afraid to be as happy as he felt he finally should be. It was too much for one person – it felt like he’d had a building dropped on him.

Cisco had rigged up one of his uncle’s frozen transport trucks to be a Meta dampening mobile prison. (Thank goodness Snart had brought Lisa along, otherwise they wouldn’t have had anyone to drive it.) Snart and Joe had given the truck armed escorts and Barry had sped back and forth blocking and unblocking the streets as they all passed.

The plan had worked – they’d all arrived at Ferris Air safely with Lisa flirting constantly with a (not so) reluctant Cisco, and Snart poking fun at everything he could think of to rile Barry and Joe. (So really, being on their absolute best behaviour as far as Barry could tell.)

But before they could count it as a total success, Cisco had jumped out of the truck cab in a panic.

“Flash! The dampeners are failing. We’re about to have a big problem!” A large mass of clouds began to form, underlining Cisco’s reasonable distress.

“What happened?” Barry shouted over Mardon’s building winds. Cisco shook his head.

“I don’t know!” Cisco waved his tablet in frustration. “It’s like something’s blocking the Meta blocker frequency! What on Earth could possibly be stronger than my tech?”

The roar of a plane engine gave the only answer. Barry looked up to see the ARGUS plane descending rapidly. Understanding hit in, well, a flash.

“It’s the plane’s radar cloak. It blocks signals to keep them from pinging off the plane, it must be on the same frequency as the truck. Can you contact them to send it away?”

“Too late.” Leonard interjected, charging the cold gun. “You’re going to owe me a hell of a marker later, Flash.”

Barry grimly nodded in acknowledgment. “Joe, watch out for Mardon. I’m going to concentrate on Nimbus.” Barry’s mind churned frantically to guess at how the fight was going to start. “Snart, Deathbolt’s yours. Everyone, watch out for Baez and try not to look Bivolo in the eyes.”

“Who the hell is Deathbolt?”

The truck’s cargo doors flew open, and Barry had no time to reply. Mardon and Nimbus emerged, ready and eager for a fight. “Take your last breath!” Nimbus roared and dissolved into his mist form. Barry took off after him as gunfire erupted and Cisco and Caitlin went running for cover. Nimbus floating quickly towards the unprotected humans, slightly hampered by Mardon’s winds.

Barry proceeded to make it even harder for him, spinning his arms rapidly to create twin wind tunnels that buffered Nimbus to and fro, not letting him advance. He could hear the gunfire behind him, and some answering blasts of that Barry supposed were from Deathbolt. He didn’t hear the cold gun firing, but he was too occupied to turn his head and look to see it if Snart was hurt.

But with his gaze pointed upwards, concentrating on Nimbus, he had a perfect view of the lightning that forked through the sky, striking the left engine of the ARGUS plane. Barry watched, horrified as the plane went down, crashing in a ball of flames at the end of the runway. There was nothing he could have done, no way to get airborne in time to save the pilots.

The blowback didn’t help Nimbus any. With so many air currents knocking him back and forth, the man finally dropped back to Earth and resumed his human form, exhausted.

More gunfire brought cries of alarm from Baez and Bivolo. Joe retaliating at Mardon and Deathbolt was at least having the effect of pinning down the less physically powered Metas.

“There she goes!” Well, pinning down Bivolo anyways. Barry was willing to bet money that Baez had just disappeared.

“What the hell is wrong with these people? Don’t they know how to fight? They’re literally sabotaging each other.”

At least Snart was still alive. And apparently so was Biviolo - Caitlin started screaming and Barry could hear Cisco fending off her attacks. She must have looked up at the wrong moment.

“They’re not a team, Snart. They’ve never fought together – they don’t know how to fight together. Barry dodged a shot from Deathbolt. “Now could you please give us some cover, so we can stop them from killing us if they do decide to form a league of their own!”

“The more organized, the more predictable they’d be.” Snart mused in Barry’s ear while the latter avoided another laser blast. “The more predictable, the easier they’d be to control.”

“Dude, could you please leave the unionizing to your spare time and freaking shoot at someone!” Cisco hollered from his hiding place which, Barry suspected from the echo, was underneath Joe’s car – the one place where he’d be safe from both the Metas and Caitlin.

“Careful what you wish for, Cisco.”

And with the next his next dodge Barry was hit mid-chest with a blast from the cold gun. It coated him from shoulders to toes, effectively turning him into a Flash Statue and a sitting duck. Nimbus took the opportunity to flee as fast as his human legs could take him, disappearing behind the hanger and out of Barry’s sight.

“Finish him Simmons!” Mardon bellowed, drowning out Barry’s pained gasp. The cold gun roared once more, turning Deathbolt’s face into a blackened rictus of surprise. The body dropped to the tarmack signalling a new danger to Mardon and Bivolo.

“How about we call tonight a tie?” Snart drawled, his confident swagger in full force as he advanced on the two Metas. “We can all go our separate ways, and no more corpscicles have to decorate the runway.”

The two men tensed, abilities charging for the first sign of weakness. Lisa swung out from behind the truck’s cargo door, gun pointed at Bivolo’s head. “I’d power down if you don’t want me to melt your face.”

Both men surrendered with scowls. Leonard was all smiles. “That’s better. My name is Leonard Snart.”

Mardon scoffed. “I know who you are.”

“Always pleased to meet a fan.” Barry rolled his eyes. Scary thing was, it was probably true. After Captain Cold’s notorious television appearance, he was easily the most recognizable of Central City’s supervillains. And the most handsome. Barry could certainly imagine groupies asking him for his autograph while he was robbing banks. “I think we can all agree that living to fight another day is the best course of action here.”

“You’re just letting us go? Mardon’s surprise was matched by Bivolo’s apparent relief. If both men had heard of Leonard, then they knew his reputation. “Why’d you shoot that guy?”

“He owed me money.” The lie slid so smoothly from Leonard’s lips that even Barry was tempted to believe it. Certainly Mardon and Bivolo accepted it with little doubt.

“So what do you want then? A thank you?” Mardon challenged, bravado reappearing now that it was looking like he was going to live.

Leonard blithely gestured towards the two men with his cold gun. “You just remember who it was made sure you didn’t get thrown on board that plane bound for nowhere.” That lie didn’t trip his tongue either. “And who doesn’t like a thank you?”

“Thank you?” Bivolo tentatively offered Leonard the credit to Mardon’s disgust at his submission. But it was the right move, as it made Leonard break out into a wide smile.

“You are so very welcome.” He put up his cold gun. “I’m going to deal with the Flash, you two might want to disappear. I’m betting the Detective will have called for backup by now, and no one needs the extra headache.”

Barry watched fuming, as Mardon and Bivolo ran off into the dark. Now all the Metas were gone, save what was left of Deathbolt. Leonard sauntered over to Barry, gun holstered and trademark smirk engaged.

“Why did you let them escape?” Barry hissed, shivering uncontrollably. Snart reached out and almost tenderly brushed some of the ice chips from Barry’s shoulder.

“Chill out, Flash. I saw an opportunity to turn things to my advantage and I did. Your plan failed miserably, and I kept us from any more casualties than absolutely necessary.”

“Seriously?”

Leonard shrugged. “Would you have preferred to have you and your little team turned to charcoal?”

“We were handling it! I mean,” Barry amended. “We would have handled it if we would have all worked together like we were supposed to.”

Leonard quirked an eyebrow. “Somehow I’m not so sure. I think you’re lucky that only the pilots died and Doctor Snow lost her mind. You’re lucky that the assassin ran out of gas, and the girl ran. And you’re lucky I was here. If I hadn’t iced Deathbolt and convinced the other two to run, I think you’d all be extra crispy right now.”

“You were supposed to help us.” Barry nearly sobbed in frustration. How could everything have gone so wrong? “You gave me your word.” 

“That’s true.” Leonard conceded. “And I kept it. I helped you get your Metas to the airfield safely. But what did you expect me to do when your plan went off the rails? Not be what I am? Now they all owe me. And something tells me they'll be a lot more use to me as part of my Rogues than rotting away in the North China sea.” 

“You really think you’ll be able to control them?” Barry shook his head (the only part of his body that he could still move) incredulously. “That you can get them to steal for you? Follow your rules?”

“Well……” Leonard hedged. “Baez and Bivolo, sure. Mardon, maybe. Nimbus…… …honestly you probably should have had me shoot him too.”

Barry groaned. “I didn’t want you to shoot _anyone_.”

“But that’s what the muscle is for, Flash.” Leonard gave him a cheeky grin. “To dirty their hands so the hero can stay a hero.” More ice slid down Barry’s torso, a sign that Barry would soon be free to dirty his own hands by shaking Leonard until his magnificently devious brain rolled free of his head. Possibly sensing his mood, Leonard stepped back. “Looks like it’s time for me to go. Good luck with all of this.” Leonard gestured at the empty cargo truck and the disarray that was Barry’s team. “And that Flash-wannabe. I'm actually really excited to see how it all turns out.” He headed back towards the cars and picked up his abandoned motorcycle. Lisa blew one last kiss to Cisco, hopped on the back and with that both Snart siblings raced out of Ferris Air like Barry was already chasing them. 

It took over ten minutes to fully defrost, so Barry didn’t even bother with pursuit. Instead, he helped Cisco and Joe restrain and then de-whammy Caitlin. They collected Deathbolt’s body and headed back to S.T.A.R. Labs.

When Dr. Wells/Thawne appeared, Barry had such a buildup of frustration that the start of the fight was actually a relief. What was even more of a relief was the arrival of both the Green Arrow (though decked out today purely in black) who was armed with Ray Palmer’s tech and Firestorm. The team up of heroes (all of which could follow a plan AND work together) was enough to take down the Reverse Flash and that more than made up for the night’s earlier troubles. Barry would be happy to spend the rest of his life chasing after Snart and the Rogues if it was the balance to having Reverse Flash in jail and his father out of it. 

Of course, once locked in the pipeline, Thawne had begun his psychological assault. Why just settle for Henry’s acquittal, when it could be made that he never went to jail in the first place? Thawne was offering to help Barry go back in time (on purpose this time) to the night when his mother was killed so he could prevent it. As long as when Barry went back in time, Thawne was able to ride the wave it made to go back to the future.

Oh, and how tempting was that. In what could be the blink of an eye, Barry could have both parents back and no longer be haunted by the man in yellow. But when Barry turned his imagination towards that lovely possibility, his head would twinge, a ghost of the pain he’d felt earlier trying to puzzle out what had happened to him on his way to Saints and Sinners. It worried him.

The idea of more time traveling worried the others. They had been arguing into the wee hours of the morning about it. Oh, they were all in support of Barry saving his mother. But Stein did the math, and there was a good chance that by Barry going back that far in time, and sending Thawne that far forward, that they’d create a black hole in the middle of the city. That was certainly a point not in favour of time traveling anywhere.

It was going to drive Barry insane. God, how he wanted to go back in time and save his mother. He wanted it more than anything. But possibly ending all life on Earth, well, that would really defeat the whole fucking purpose, wouldn’t it?

So things were at an impasse. Joe had gone to talk to the DA about reopening Henry’s case with the new evidence, (with Cisco to provide tech support for the proof), Oliver had disappeared back into the night, talking cryptically about assassinating an assassin and the rest of team Flash had gone home either with their loved one or to be with their loved ones. Barry had stayed to guard Thawne, using the quiet time to contact his dad’s lawyer and to try to quell the odd pain in his chest about Iris’ sudden engagement to Eddie.

He rubbed his head, and relaxed back against the pillow. He was frustrated about Snart, excited about what this meant for his dad and strangely sad about Iris. His brain was starting to feel like it had been cooked over an open flame. Barry just needed to rest his eyes for a minute. Just one minute, and maybe he could tackle the time travel issue and figure out how to get what he wanted without destroying the earth. And when he had all that figured out, he could worry about Snart’s favour. Sleep would help him handle everything.

# ⚡❄⚡

Surely it must have only been a minute before Barry was rudely awakened by Snart grabbing his sweatshirt and yanking it up to his nipples.

Startled, Barry flashed to the other side of the Lab, covering his chest like a co-ed who’d lost her bikini top. “What the hell Snart?”

“I see you didn’t suffer any lasting damage from our little tiff at the airfield.” Leonard amusedly watched Barry tug his clothing back into place for the second time in twelve hours. “And do you know you snore?”

“I do not!” Barry could feel his cheeks starting to heat. How long had he been asleep? How long had Snart been there _watching_ him sleep? Thank God he hadn’t been drooling. “How did you even get in here?”

Leonard just raised an eyebrow. “Barry, the better question is how do you expect to keep anyone out? Your security here is so bad you might as well install a revolving door. Tell Ramon he’s got to get working on that.”

Barry shook his head. “Cisco is going to be so busy working on Tech for Iron Heights that I think that’s going to be a low priority.” He couldn’t hide the glee in his voice. Finally a victory to brag about that even Snart couldn’t scoff at; and Snart acknowledged this with a nod.

“I saw your boss fight on the security camera feed. Congratulations.” Barry gave Leonard a confused look. Leonard shrugged. “Maybe another thing you want to mention to Ramon is that as passwords go, ‘FlashDrive’ is easy to guess. Leonard’s smirk deepened in amusement. “May I suggest using something a little less on the nose? Maybe try using my birthday.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Well why don’t I just give you your own security pass? That way we’ll be able to keep track of when you visit so we know when to do inventory.”

Leonard’s smile actually looked genuine. “Barry if I ever come in here to steal your Tech, there won’t be anything left to inventory.” Barry just had to smile back.

“Well, since the computer hasn’t disappeared, and the suit stand isn’t naked, why _did_ you come?”

Leonard held up a finger in the ‘just a minute’ gesture. He took out his cell and removed the battery, first motioning and then tossing each piece to Barry in turn. Confused, Barry set them aside as Leonard slowly removed the cold gun from its holster and removed the power source. Both parts disarmed without the other, he again threw them to Barry.

“What’s this about?”

Leonard spread his hands wide. “Don’t be so cold, scarlet. I just want to make sure that you know I’m not trying to play an angle. No phone, no weapons, no reasons for you to think that I’m not being,” Leonard paused to consider his word choice. “Sincere.”

Barry had to wonder if Leonard actually knew what the word meant after all the hero-villain banter they’d shared, but chose to worry about the former part of the sentence. “You don’t seriously expect me to believe you’d only carry one weapon, do you?”

Leonard gave Barry a pleased look at the compliment of how dangerous Barry knew him to be. “Well, if you’re still not convinced, you could always frisk me.” He dropped his voice suggestively. “Your choice.”

Well, if permission was given….Barry zipped forwards and performed a pat down at superspeed, refusing to let himself linger on any of Snart’s chiseled physique that he had previously only fantasized about touching. True to his word (this time), Leonard didn’t have anything else on him. When he appeared back at the desk, Leonard was frozen with shock.

“Did you just…?”

“You said I could.” Barry folded his arms across his chest, for once in control of the conversation. He was so proud of himself not for blushing from touching Snart on his own initiative. “So if you’re not here steal, harm or collect blackmail material, what can I do for you?”

Leonard nonchalantly sat on Barry’s abandoned cot. “Oh, just wanted to chat.” Barry cocked his head in disbelief. “Yes, originally I was here about my blank cheque, but after watching the dilemma you’ve been left with from your little adventure with Robin Hood and Burning Man, I wanted to add my two cents to the time travel argument.”

Barry was hit by a wave of disbelief so strong, he actually had to sit down on the edge of Caitlin’s desk. “Tonight so far you’ve shot me, killed a man, and lost some of the most dangerous people in the city. And you’re telling me you broke into the lab tonight to offer _me_ advice.”

Leonard folded his hands and nodded sagely. “This seemed like a good time.”

Oh to have such confidence. If Barry contained a tenth of the nerve Snart had, he would have already gone back in time to save his mother, gone forward in time to stop Thawne in his early years and used the power of the resulting paradox to supply the world with free energy.

Barry pinched the bridge of his nose. Ah well. Spending more one-on-one time with Snart wasn’t a bad thing; though Barry admitted ruefully that he could probably spend years with the man and still not understand him. He could at least pretend that the potential for Snart to see him in an equal footing was there. “What the hell. Okay, let’s have it.”

His audience now properly attentive, Leonard stopped acting so relaxed. Barry had never seen him look so serious. “My mother passed away when I was seven.” Leonard said so abruptly that Barry flinched. “A car accident. Drunk driver. Stupid and tragic but not especially violent or newsworthy.” Barry bit back an automatic apology. He didn’t think Leonard would be particularly open to sympathy. “Lewis remarried a few years later and Lisa was born when I was ten.” Leonard tapped his thumbs together in quiet anxiety and took a deep breath. “Barry, I miss my mother every day. And I’m sure you understand how much. But if I was offered a ride on a time machine today to go back and change things, I wouldn’t. Do you know why?”

“I have a guess,” Barry replied slowly. “But I really don’t want to assume.”

Leonard’s smile made a quick reappearance. “How very diplomatic of you, Flash. But the answer should be obvious. If my mother never died, then it’s incredibly likely that Lisa would have never been born. And after only seven years of having my mother, but thirty years of having Lisa….it’s probably horrible to say, but I would have more trouble living without Lisa.”

“No!” Barry blurted out, a tad too quickly. Leonard raised an eyebrow. “I mean, it’s not horrible at all. I can’t imagine losing Iris.” A sharp twinge sounded in his chest. Iris was engaged to Eddie, he’d already lost Iris. But it’s not like she was dead to him. She’d always be his sort-of sister. The pang of regret he felt eased considerably.

“But you _could,_ Barry.” Leonard leaned forward and caught Barry’s gaze with a startling intensity. “If you go back in time and save your mother there is a chance you could lose _everything_ you have now. Your career, your friends, your _powers_ \- there’s no telling what would be affected by suddenly having both your parent’s influence for your whole life.” That was undeniably true. The butterfly effect hadn’t come up in the conversation with the rest of the Team. They were all kind enough to want Barry’s happiness, without heavily dwelling on such consequences.

“Not going back in time and risking that – and risking changes to everyone else’s lives by default too, doesn’t mean that you don’t love your mother enough to give it all up. It means that you’re still being the hero by protecting everyone that would be affected.” Leonard paused, trying to let Barry soak in his meaning. “Because I think a lot of people’s outcomes would be affected. You can’t imagine that your Flash-Fake won’t try to screw you over one last time.”

“That’s true.” Barry admitted ruefully. “He wants me dead, and if not dead; suffering. I don’t know what I did to him in the future, but he hates me beyond reason.”

Leonard rolled his eyes. “Scarlet, I’m sure you’ve never done anything worse to him than spelling his name wrong on an autograph. He’s just crazy. ” Leonard stood, and walked over to Barry. “It’s another reason you have to still act the hero. He’s dangerous, and shouldn’t be allowed to go free.”

“Gee, that sounds so familiar.” Barry fought the urge to kick Leonard in the shin. “It’s like I’m having déjà vu here.”

Leonard ignored the sarcasm. “So wave him in front of a judge, free your dad, send him to jail and then forget about him. You’ll have justice for your parents, and your revenge too.”

“My revenge?” Now Barry was amused. “So I’m after revenge now?”

“Anyone in your situation would be, even a saint such as yourself.” Barry scoffed at Leonard’s generous description of him. “And you have the perfect means to. Once your old man’s free, then just forget about Flash-Lite. Forever. He’s just like your basic stalker – he loves you so much he hates you. And he’s spent so long obsessing over you that you ignoring him will hurt him worse than anything else you could do to him.”

Barry started to nod slowly. “Not torture, but torture all the same.” Barry smiled. “So you’re saying that the best revenge is living well?”

“Exactly.” Leonard thrust a finger in the air, relishing the word. “Why should he get anything that he wants? To go home? To keep hurting you? I think it’s time you put some limits on your abusive relationship, don’t you?” Leonard’s voice softened. “You’ll have your dad. You’ll keep everyone safe. And you’ll get to stay the hero. I’d say as revenge gets, it’s pretty good.”

“Somehow I thought you’d prefer your revenge bloodier.” Barry dryly commented as Leonard paced around him.

“Bloody isn’t always the most painful option.” A full circuit of the desk complete, Leonard started another. “And after everything that bastard’s done, he deserves to suffer.”

Something in Leonard’s tone sent a frisson of worry through Barry. “You don’t just mean my parents and the Metas do you?”

“I mean all of it.” Leonard wrinkled his nose in disgust. “I saw the pictures on the computer. He is one sick fucker. If you actually do any time travelling, you should pull one of those ‘kill Hitler as a baby’ deals. I’m sure you understand who Hitler is in this scenario.”

“What pictures?”

Leonard stopped short, looking at Barry oddly. “The pictures of you on his computer.”

Barry’s stomach did a flip. “What pictures of me?” Leonard went uncharacteristically quiet. “Leonard, what did you find?” He sped over to a computer, pulling up the database. A quick scan revealed nothing that he hadn’t seen a thousand times.

“In his personal files.” Leonard came up beside him. “In a folder marked ‘dark matter’. The third document is an entry point to a hidden part of the drive.”

“How did you find this?”

Leonard shrugged. “You were sleeping really deeply, and I was bored.” He hesitated. “You know, you don’t have to look at these. You can get your friends to sort through them and make sure that all the incriminating ones go to the police, and any Flash-y type ones get deleted. I’ll write all the directions down for them.”

The fact that Leonard was trying to be so uncharacteristically nice to him just confirmed to Barry that yes, he really did need to see the pictures. A few keystrokes and he was in Thawne’s secret files, going through the collection as fast as the mouse would click.

It was all pictures of him. Thousands and thousands of pictures of him starting a week after moving in with Joe and Iris. Thawne had kept track of his whole life after that point – there were pictures of Barry in school, visiting his dad at the prison, at his first afterschool job, going off to college. And then after the lightning strike, there were coma shots of his injuries, him running around the lab, talking to Caitlin and Cisco. There were pictures of him from even just two days ago. Thawne had documented everything.

The worst were pictures of him at home with Joe and Iris. His younger self doing homework, watching cartoons with Iris, crying when he thought he was alone…there were pictures of him in the shower, for God’s sake. Barry felt sick. No wonder Leonard found them so incriminating. 

“I think if you show the police a choice selection of those, they’re going to be a lot more willing to listen to the motive of ‘he killed my mother for trying to keep him from molesting me’ than ‘he came back in time to keep me from becoming a superhero’. “ Leonard patted Barry on the shoulder gingerly. “It’s horrible, but it will help your cause as much as an outright confession would.”

So true. So gross. Barry exited out of the computer and rested his head against the monitor. “Please tell me that’s all you found on the computer.”

“That’s all the _bad_ stuff that I found on the computer.” 

Right. Leonard probably now had copies of the building’s blueprints and God only knew of how much of Cisco’s tech. Barry _really_ was going to have to talk to Cisco about security.

“Please tell me you’re not going to bring the Rogues her to ambush us.” Barry straightened and rubbed a hand through his hair. He could not take any more surprises tonight.

“No, your base is off limits, as long as my safe houses are as well.”

Since Barry didn’t know where any of Leonard’s safe houses were, that was an easy promise to make. “Okay.”

Leonard’s smile returned. “And I promise the Rogues will stick to being thieves, not killers.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s you.” Barry admitted, causing Leonard to preen at the compliment. “But keep in mind, the blank cheque applies only to you. I won’t ignore a heist if the Metas are involved. There’s too good a chance the police could be hurt. And if they go to jail, they stay in jail. I won’t break them out for you.”

Leonard shook his head. “Oh don’t worry about that. I don’t like to share. My blank cheque is for _me_.” He stepped back from Barry abruptly.

Disappointed that the moment of camaraderie was over, Barry followed him back to his seat on the cot. “Did you already decide what you wanted?” Barry sat next to him. “And is the price of your advice included in that, or does that cost extra?”

Leonard laughed. “Yes I did decide, and no, this round of advice is free. Call it my apology,” his mouth formed the last word carefully, like it was completely foreign to him. “For shooting you earlier.” Then it was Barry’s turn to laugh.

“I’m honoured.”

Leonard elbowed Barry lightly. “As you should be.” The nervous tapping of his thumbs re-emerged. “I did decide, but it can wait. Coming over tonight was an impulse, one I probably should have ignored.” His smile turned a little strained. “Believe it or not, what I want requires you to be in a good mood. I think I’ve ruined that with the kiddie pictures reveal.”

Barry was intrigued. “You can’t back out now. I’ll go crazy trying to guess if you don’t tell me.”

“There’s no way you could guess.” 

And there was no way Barry could resist a Leonard Snart Challenge either. “Well, it can’t be money – I’m guessing you’re worth a lot more than I am, and I’ve just spent my savings on a lawyer’s retainer for my dad. It’s probably not to steal something – that would take all the fun out of it for you.” Barry started ticking ideas off on his fingers. “You can’t be wanting more tech, you’d need Cisco for that. If you needed a bullet wound patched up, you’d need Caitlin. I don’t suppose you’re going to want us to store your rivals in the pipeline?”

Leonard shook his head thoughtfully. “None of those, but if I’m ever a good enough boy to earn another favour, that last one might come in handy. Especially now that I’m not allowed to kill them.” He gave Barry a mock glare.

Barry threw up his hands in surrender. “Then I give up. You’ll just have to tell me. If you think it’s something that should wait until I’m in better straits, then you can pick a date, and I’ll be there.”

“A date,” Leonard rubbed his hands together. “You’re funny, Barry.” He turned on the bed so he was facing Barry, rather than just sitting beside him.

“Because I was going to ask for a chance to suck your dick. Wanna put that one down in your schedule under ‘Flash Duties'”?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so bonding over dead mommies isn't the most interesting plot-wise, but it just makes so much sense for these two. (At least their mothers weren't both named Martha?) I still think Len makes some very valid points. And yes, for someone who makes a living breaking and entering, I'm sure he'd be able to find all kinds of Thawne's secrets once given free access. Because while the Time Vault is the best storage area, I think he would have still had a lot of access to his shadiness with the other equipment to keep tabs on it all at a moment's notice.
> 
> One nitpick that I had with the show I just had to fix here: There's no way Len would have had the time/been left alone with the truck long enough to sabotage the Meta Dampeners. So I decided it was an ARGUS accident. It made the most sense to me.
> 
> And next chapter comes what we've all been waiting for: SMUT.


	4. Blank Cheque Begging

Barry stared at Leonard in disbelief. “Come again?” Surely what he had heard was not actually what he’d heard. His brain was so focused on that, it took him a moment to realize and then curse at his choice of words.

Leonard jumped on the verbal mistake with glee. “Oh, were you celebrating before I got here? No wonder you were sleeping so deeply.”

Barry blushed, his lower body and face now fighting over his surplus blood. “Did you just offer to give me a blowjob?”

“Technically I’m demanding you offer yourself up for one.”

Barry crossed his legs, hoping to disguise how interested he was in making such a sacrifice. “Wouldn’t it make more sense that you wanted me to give you one?” His dick hardened further at the idea. Maybe he’d died fighting the Reverse-Flash and woken up in heaven.

“That’s a little too rapey.” Leonard mulled over the option. “I might enjoy having you helpless at my hands, but at least this way you can enjoy it, even if you have to pretend I’m someone else.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Barry protested defensively. Of course he wouldn’t. Captain Cold stripping the Flash suit off of him after a successful heist was one of his favourite fantasies. So much so that he was about to have a tent in his sweatpants pointing out his interest to Leonard if he didn’t find a way to calm the hell down in the next ten seconds. 

Leonard gave him a raised eyebrow of doubt. “You sure you wouldn’t rather have your sexy times feature your star-crossed reporter love?”

“Iris is getting married to Eddie.” Barry firmly told Leonard and himself, despite the chest pangs it gave him. “And even if she wasn’t, if I’m having sex with you, then I’m having sex with you. None of this lying on my back thinking of England.”

“Oh, but I want you on your back, Scarlet.” Leonard’s eyes sparkled in a dark joy from Barry’s words. “The bed can hold both of us, can’t it? He pulled his legs up onto the cot and began to crawl over Barry.

Aware he had just encouraged, if not outright agreed to Leonard’s terms, Barry let Leonard strip him of his sweatshirt and push him back until his head hit the pillow. Cool fingers stroked across his lightning-gifted abs as Leonard traced the freckles scattered on Barry’s torso with fascination. 

“You’re so pale all over.” Leonard murmured, reaching up to circle one of Barry’s nipples until it hardened. “No wonder you blush so pretty.”

Barry’s stomach tightened with pleasure. “I wouldn’t blush so much if you weren’t so mean to me.” He bit back a moan when Leonard gave him an evil grin and a light pinch.

“Scarlet, if you think I’m being mean now, then I definitely need to up my game.” Fast enough to rival Barry, he ducked his head and traced the path his fingers had taken with his tongue. Creating a wet path up from Barry’s navel to his other nipple, Leonard gave the neglected bud a scrape of teeth. Barry bucked under the sweet torture as Leonard continued teasing him with his mouth; nipping and sucking each tender peak in turn and delighting in watching them harden further. “Am I being worse yet?” 

“Are you sure you don’t mean better?” Leonard batted his eyelashes coyly at Barry’s panted response, and blew on the wet flesh in reply, making Barry squirm and creating a lovely pattern of freckles, blushes and gooseflesh. Leonard sucked a quick hickey onto Barry’s pec and watched in surprise as it blossomed and faded in front of his eyes.

“Side effect of your powers I presume?”

“Yeah, I heal pretty quickly.” Barry jumped when Leonard dipped back down and sucked another, deeper bruise onto his collarbone, rubbing at it gently as the new mark also faded away. “It’s…it’s a perk.”

“And a good one at that.” Leonard murmured, transfixed at how Barry’s skin kept morphing back into its flawless state. “Let’s see what else is perky about you, Flash.”

Leonard’s hands dropped to Barry’s waistband and yanked his sweatpants and shorts down to his knees in one smooth motion. Freed from its cotton prison, Barry’s cock jumped out to fill Leonard’s hands. Both of them.

“My, my.” Leonard purred, trailing his fingers up and down the tall shaft of flesh. “I’ve had you named wrong all this time. I should have been calling you Big–“

“Scarlet!” Barry interrupted Leonard frantically. He did not want the next time he fought Captain Cold to feature puns about his dick. “I like it when you call me Scarlet.” Leonard gave him a squeeze and his back bowed. “Let’s not ruin a good thing.”

“Scarlet still suits you.” Leonard leisurely licked the bead of precum pearled at the head of Barry’s cock, which was indeed flushed dark red. “I think I can still make it work.” His tongue stroked Barry again, maddeningly slow, and Barry whined. It was too much and not enough and so tortuously perfect all at once. He needed to feel more; more of Leonard – as much as fucking possible of Leonard, not just his magnificently wicked mouth. He reached down and grabbed for the Captain Cold parka, trying to tug the cumbersome material down Leonard’s arms so he could have the man as gloriously naked as he’d stripped Barry.

“Nuh uh.” Leonard took Barry’s hands in his own, sucking Barry’s fingers into the hot paradise of his mouth one at a time as a further tease. “My cheque, my way.” He gently pressed Barry’s wrists down on either sides of his head. “Now keep those there, or I’ll find out how you like wearing the handcuffs for a change.”

Barry nodded, wide-eyed and laced his fingers behind his head. Leonard gave Barry an approving look. “Now where were we?” He angled his body between Barry’s knees, pinning the sweatpants and Barry’s lower legs to the bed. “I think I was finally going to succeed in having The Flash beg me for mercy.”

“In your dreams Len-“ Barry cut himself off with a strangled cry as Leonard, finished with teasing, took Barry’s cock deep inside his mouth. And Leonard had joked about Barry’s gag reflex control being super-human – in that moment Barry was sure he was touching the back of Leonard’s throat. Leonard hummed around him and Barry whimpered. This may be the best defeat he’d ever have.

Leonard slowly released Barry, dragging his tongue back up along the shaft the whole way. “Need a little more incentive, Flash?” Voice hoarse, his head dipped lower, mouthing along Barry’s sack. “I don’t hear any begging.”

“You won’t.” Barry swore, gripping the pillow hard enough he could hear the stitches start to give. “After all the fighting we’ve done, I’m not going to start surrendering to you now.”

Leonard grinned. “Oh, Barry. You always know how to bring out the best in me.” And just like in their battles, Leonard rose to the challenge. Which worked out in Barry’s favour for the first time ever.

Leonard’s torture began; the wet heat of his mouth enveloped Barry, tongue swirling around the head of his dick. He didn’t take Barry as deep as the first time; this was all about the teasing. There wasn’t an iota of skin that Leonard didn’t trace with the tip of his tongue. Barry squirmed uncontrollably while the thief outlined every vein and ridge, determined not to give in. Leonard would make him twitch by tugging gently on the dark curls at his base, and coax out a gasp by sucking another hickey into the tender skin of his thigh. Those bruises would last a fraction longer than one made on his chest, and Leonard would revel in them, licking the edges until they faded completely. Barry arched, trying to draw Leonard’s attention back where he needed him the most.

“Want something, Flash?” Leonard purred, and dipped his tongue into the small hole at Barry’s cockhead. “You’re starting to look a little desperate.”

“Not desperate.” Barry lied. “Maybe getting bored. I’m still able to keep up with your tricks, _Cold._ ”

“Oh, you haven’t even seen half of my skills in action yet.” One of Leonard’s hands crept underneath Barry. “I just didn’t think I was going to get permission to bring out any of the big guns.” He mimed thrusting into the bed and it made Barry laugh. Leonard was just always so much….fun.

“You already gave me your gun.” Barry poked mischief back at his favourite trouble maker. “And then you gave me permission to cop a feel of your _bigger_ gun. You’ve got no surprises left.”

“I think I still have one or two.” Leonard took Barry’s cock back in his mouth and didn’t stop until his lips met Barry’s body. As he sucked the quivering shaft of flesh a finger brushed the nerve laden pucker of Barry’s entrance.

An unfamiliar jolt of pleasure shot up Barry’s spine and he clamped both hands over his mouth to stop his shout. What he couldn’t stop was the unfettered vibration of his whole body, heralding just how much Leonard’s surprise had affected him.

And in turn how it affected Leonard. When the spasm stopped, Leonard released Barry’s cock with a pop. “What was that?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” Barry was mortified. “I-it just happens when I’m feeling – when I’m going to – I’m not doing it on purpose. Sorry.” 

Leonard looked fascinated. “So you’re saying you vibrate when you’re about to cum?” He fisted Barry’s shaft and gave it an experimental pump, electing another shiver. “Does it happen every time?”

“Ah! I’m trying to figure out how to control it so it doesn’t.” Barry panted. “It’s not easy.”

Leonard shook his head, both hands working at teasing Barry at both sides. “Scarlet, that is something that you should absolutely not do. You should be training to vibrate the whole time. Heck, you should be training to just vibrate certain parts on purpose.”

“Well, I can already do that.” Barry was nearly chewing off his fingers at the sensations Leonard was giving him, so the reply wasn’t considered before it left his mouth. Leonard’s eyes opened wide with shock.

“If you can do it on command, then why the hell are you wasting your time being a superhero? Do you have any idea how much money you could be making as an escort?”

“Leonard!”

Leonard rolled his eyes. “Well, you could at least be using this to get your girl. Hell, if you were offering this as an alternative to crime, Central City would be full of nothing but law-abiding citizens within a week.”

“If anyone wants a vibrating penis, they can easily just go buy one.”

“Batteries do not compare to this.” Leonard gave Barry a squeeze, and simultaneously pressed against his entrance with just enough pressure that his fingertip breached it. That proved to be Barry’s breaking point, he came with a hot rush on Leonard and himself, vibrations adding to the spread of the release. 

“Oh, my beautiful boy,” Leonard murmured. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.” He ran his hands through the sticky mess Barry’s abdomen while Barry shuddered and rocked beneath him, still helpless to the Speedforce gift of bliss.

“Before or after I came into Saints and Sinners?” Barry gaspingly asked him as Leonard massaged the divots of his hipbones.

“Before.” Leonard leant forward and licked a stray drop of cum on Barry’s ribcage.

“Before or after I left you in the woods?”

“Before.” Barry could feel Leonard’s smile against his belly.

“The Casino?” Leonard laughed quietly into Barry’s stomach. “The fight with the police?”

“Before even that, but I’m not giving you specifics. Not now.” If Barry didn’t know any better, he’d swear there was a light flush on Leonard’s cheeks.

He sat up and swiped his thumb across Len’s cheek, cleaning a patch of the accumulated cum. “I hope it was on the train. Though I have to admit, I was already taken with the way you looked when you stole the diamond wearing that three piece suit.”

Leonard’s eyes sparkled. “Is that why you stopped to talk to me on the train instead of just speeding me to prison?”

Barry gave a shy smile back. “It’s why I didn’t do the speed blurring to hide myself when I talked to you.”

Leonard put his hands on Barry’s thighs and pushed himself up, finally freeing Barry’s lower legs. “Hmmm. If that’s what distracts you, I may have to rethink the parka on future heists.”

“You can’t switch uniforms now. You’d disappoint your fans.”

“I can live with having only one very happy fan.” Leonard started to lean into Barry and Barry reciprocated, lips parting eagerly, breath speeding up....

“You must be joking.”

Barry nearly reeled off the bed in hurt at the words before he noticed Leonard’s gaze had dropped back to his thighs. Or more correctly, what was between them – once again hard and ready and as eager as Barry for more affection.

“Oh!” Barry exclaimed. “Sorry. It’s the healing factor again. My refractory period is kind of….non-existent now. Just ignore it.”

“Ignore it?” Leonard’s voice rose incredulously. “Scarlet, you’re telling me you can go all night and vibrate on command. I could cry about having non-rapey morals right now. If I was a worse man, right now my blank cheque would be the eighth wonder of the world. It’s impossible to ignore it.” 

Barry squirmed, his almost-too-sensitive flesh twitching at the implications of what Leonard wanted. “I think you’re being a little overly optimistic about my prowess, but thank you.”

Leonard harrumphed. “Unlikely.” He quirked a brow. “I don’t suppose you want to go two out of three?” His tone changed from sulky to hopeful on a dime.

“Does that mean I get to give you a blowjob on the third time?” Barry prodded him mischievously. “Because I think my prowess could be greatly improved by that incentive.” Leonard’s hesitation took him by surprise.

“It’s not that I don’t want you to,” Leonard slowly sat back. “But I don’t want you to feel like you _have_ to. I may be a criminal, but I don’t pull that kind of bullshit.”

“But if I want to, it’s okay, right?” Barry did everything but bat his eyelashes at Leonard. “I mean, it’s not part of your blank cheque if I’m _offering_ you one.”

“I sup-pose.” Leonard drawled the word out into five syllables, considering. Now Barry had to bring out _his_ big guns. And usually he hated people remarking on how he had Puppy Dog Eyes.

“I could suck you off while I’m on my kneeeeeeees.” Sing-songing that last word, now that offer caught Leonard’s attention.

“Still naked?” The hopeful tone was back. Hopeful was a good sign.

“Of course.” Why the hell not? He had to erase the security tapes in the morning anyways. Might as well be as shocking as Meta-humanly possible.

“Okay.” Barry nearly cheered, but Leonard held it off by holding up a finger. “But I’m staying dressed, and I get to go third for the grand finale. You can go next.”

“Deal.” They both stood and rearranged themselves, Leonard taking a seat on the edge of the cot, Barry kicking his sweatpants off his ankles and kneeling at Leonard’s feet. “Is it okay to use my hands for this? I know you didn’t want me touching you before.”

Barry received a look so warm, it had him mentally patting himself on the back. “You can touch my dick all you want, but I meant it when I said I was staying dressed. This is an open-fly, quickie-in-the-men’s-room type BJ.”

“No problem.” Barry reached for Leonard’s zipper. “And you can still touch me if you want. But if you like to pull hair, please don’t pull any out.”

Leonard’s hands came up to tenderly card through Barry’s messy brown locks, and Barry luxuriated in the feeling like a cat being stroked. “Now that would be a tragedy.”

“No, a tragedy would be you not letting me do this at all.” Barry dragged the metal tab down slowly, teasing them both. “And walking away, leaving us both in the cold.”

Leonard laughed at the pun until Barry’s hand sliding through his open fly stole his breath. Forget about being cold, Leonard’s heat could have burned Barry’s fingers. It was a good thing he was so wet, the evidence that Leonard was as eager for his touch as Barry had been for his coaxed a sympathy vibration out of Barry. The brush of sensation through the soaked cotton of his boxers made Leonard moan softly, and it was music to Barry’s ears.

He guided Leonard’s thick shaft out into the open air, cupping the weight of his balls in the palm of his hand. His mouth watered; now this was a cock worth begging for.

“I know I can’t make you beg.” Barry whispered. “But I think I can at least make you cum so hard, you forget to make a pun about how fast I got you off.” He ducked his head and took the engorged head between his lips, not giving Leonard any time to laugh.

There was no time for teasing – Leonard was already rock hard from his earlier efforts. Barry started vibrating the tip of his tongue right away, collecting the warm salty taste that limned Leonard’s cock. Fingers combed roughly through his hair, dancing down the back of his neck and across his shoulders, encouraging Barry onwards.

Emboldened, Barry took Leonard deeper, lips stretching wide to accommodate. He spread his vibrations to his lips and further down his tongue, mindful to keep Leonard away from his teeth. The older man squirmed above him, and Barry tried to quickly calculate if he could reciprocate Leonard’s deep-throating talent with the extra girth. Probably not without some serious practice. Barry had to fight not to smile and throw off his vibrations. What would Leonard say if he asked for that favour?

Fingernails dug at his scalp, and Barry peered up through his lashes at the man straining above him. “Faster,” Leonard choked out. “Show me how the heroes do it, Flash.”

And more of the world famous Snart Nerve™. Barry internally shrugged. Well, if that’s what he wanted….. He strategically placed one set of fingertips around the part of Leonard’s shaft that he couldn’t fit into his mouth, the other just brushing the soft fuzz of Leonard’s testicles. He made sure to keep the touch light – while a good amount of saliva had been provided by his efforts, it was no replacement for lube and heaven forbid he give Captain Cold a friction burn. Arrangement complete, Barry gave Leonard exactly what he asked for. And it might not have made his unflappable thief beg, but it sure made him scream.

A thrill of glee shot through Barry while he tried to both rapidly swallow the thick cream that flooded his mouth and support the man who had nearly folded in half on his shoulders, nearly collapsing with the force of his release. Now Leonard knew how wicked Barry could be when he wanted to. They shared a little more in common than just parental tragedy.

Barry let go of the cock softening in his mouth, and stood up slowly, easing Leonard to slump backwards on the mattress. He quickly wiped at his mouth, trying to clean up the combination of saliva and semen dripping down his chin. “You okay?”

“I can’t feel my legs.” Leonard mumbled, a beatific smile creasing his lips. He didn’t even open his eyes as Barry lay down beside him. “I can still feel your lips around my dick, but I’m never going to be able to walk again. And it’s so worth it.”

Barry could feel a blush rising to his cheeks again, even after everything they’d done together. “Well, then now we’re even.”

He honestly meant it as a return compliment, but Leonard’s eyes snapped open, and he focused on Barry with lazer-like intensity. “Sorry Scarlet, but that won’t do at all.” He sat up, and stripped off his parka, much to Barry’s delight. The body hidden underneath was clad in a black sweater and matching pants, and looked as perfectly toned as Barry remembered from the armoured car heist.

Barry rolled on his side, amused. “And the problem is?”

“I didn’t come here for us to be even. I came here to _win_.”

“Do you seriously consider even _this_ a competition?”

Leonard shrugged. “Of course. All the best nemeses do. I mean, you don’t think Professor X and Magento spend all their time together just playing chess, do you?”

Barry snorted. “Well that would certainly explain why they’re always so quick to forgive each other every movie.” 

“It also explains how they keep making all those movies. Everyone keeps going hoping to see them break down and fuck right on the battlefield.”

Both men broke out laughing. The scenario was ridiculous, but wasn’t what they’d just shared proof that the impossible could happen?

Leonard gave Barry’s shoulder a light push. “My turn. Back into position, and I don’t want any distractions this time. Any other surprises I should be warned about?”

Barry scooted up the bed until he had the room to swing his long legs back up on it. “Well, if I get vibrating fast enough, there’s a chance I’ll phase through the bed and drop to the floor.” He arched a brow at Leonard. “Think you’re up for that challenge?”

The struggle to contain his disbelief put cracks in Leonard’s normally cool façade. “Not today.” Leonard grabbed Barry’s ankles and yanked, dropping his upper body back to the bed. “But I’ll give you something to shake about, that’s for sure.” Leonard pushed at the backs of Barry’s thighs, lifting his knees towards his navel. “Lift up, will you?”

Barry raised his hips, allowing Leonard to stuff his trademark parka under them. “Should I be worried?”

“Terrified.” Leonard deadpanned, making Barry smile. “Now no more talking. I want a mouthful of your cum, not more conversation about your magic dick.” He angled Barry’s legs over his shoulders. “Begging, of course, is permitted and expected.”

“I’m not going to – ” Barry squeezed his eyes shut as Leonard trailed his tongue down his shaft, slowly enveloping the tall column of flesh with his mouth. He gave a light suck and then slid back upwards, to tease at Barry’s head. Barry panted at the sensation. Talented fingers massaged his ass cheeks, holding his lower body still, not allowing him any leverage to thrust or even squirm with his knees up at Leonard’s ears.

“Len…” Barry whined as those masterful fingers slid down his crack to the same rhythm as Leonard’s slowly bobbing head. Fingers probed the tight hole gently, making Barry shiver and struggle to keep his hands to himself. God, how he wanted to run his hands over the buzzed layer of Leonard’s salt-and pepper hair. He wanted to slide his fingers down the back of that tight turtleneck sweater and stroke the cords of muscle he knew was hiding underneath. And holy hell, he wanted Leonard’s leisurely pace of suck and stroke to speed the fuck up.

But did he really want to be the one to cry uncle in their game?

Leonard hummed around him again, and his wicked fingers circled Barry’s nerve laden entrance. It was a teasing touch, with not nearly enough pressure in Barry’s opinion. “Please….”

Leonard glanced up expectantly, gaze as taunting as when he faced off against Barry in costume. His whole demeanor seemed to ask _‘want something?’_ And oh, Barry did. And he wanted it enough to finally admit defeat.

“Suck harder, dammit. I need more to cum.” Barry begged. “Please suck harder Len.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Barry could have kicked Leonard at the sound of his nasally smirking tone. And then his mouth was wrapped back around Barry’s cock, fingers stroking him from balls to entrance to teasing him with the possibility of slipping inside with just the perfect amount of pressure- _ohgod!_

Pride abandoned, Barry continued his pleas for strokes to be harder and faster and _please-please-please-don’t-stop_. And when Leonard gave him everything he wanted and more, it all turned to praise of the master thief’s talents. 

The vibrations started deep inside Barry, pleasure coiling at the base of his spine and sparking upwards. Barry could see the hint of lightning flashing in his eyes, signalling that his climax was imminent and was going to be intense. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

“Len,” Barry barely managed to croak out the warning. “Len, I’m going to cum. If you need to pull back…” Leonard’s finger pressed him harder, giving him the barest of entry inside and Barry thought that he had exploded. He couldn’t tell if the light show that was happening was just behind his eyes or if his body was throwing lightning as he vibrated. Shadows danced across the ceiling as Barry shook around Leonard (and inside Leonard,) as the man swallowed all he had to offer.

It was so perfect that when the last shudders left him, and Leonard had raised his head to lick the last few drops as they dribbled out of Barry, Barry had a sharp pang of mourning in the middle of the waves of ecstasy crashing through him at the fact that it was all over. Which was kind of the way the whole night had gone.

Leonard crawled up the bed to lie beside Barry, encouraging him to turn on his side so they could both fit. They lay nose to nose, panting with their exertions. 

“I win.” Leonard gave Barry an exhausted smirk, marred only slightly by the bead of Barry’s cum at the corner of his mouth. Barry could only smile.

“Agreed.” Barry dramatically brought a hand to his chest in a mock case of the vapours. “You win. I give up. Captain Cold is the uncontested victor. The Flash was completely defeated at your hands. And mouth.” He tried to finish off the dramatic monologue with a straight face, but he locked eyes with Leonard and they both burst out laughing.

“But seriously,” when they both finished giggling, Barry folded an arm under his head to prop himself up. “You’re right about everything. So thank you.”

“For the blowjob?” Leonard was so amused his eyes sparkled. “My, what good manners you have, Flash.”

“For everything.” Barry clarified. “You saved me from Deathbolt at Ferris Air, and you saved me from making the mistake of what we were going to do to the Metas. You’re right, we need to find a way to charge them and jail them legally. And thank you for the advice about what to do about the Reverse-Flash.”

“Annnnnnd?” Leonard drawled. Barry blushed.

“And thank you for the blowjob. It was magnificent.” Leonard’s smile couldn’t have gotten any wider.

“My pleasure, Scarlet.” Leonard stretched and locked his fingers behind his head. “I think we both know that this whole night was all my pleasure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Leonard's idea of consent might be a little off, but luckily Barry wanted the excuse to be with him as much as Leonard did. ^_^


	5. Let's Play A Game

Barry whistled while he pulled the articles of his father’s case off the white board in his lab. They were all nothing but paper now; he had officially solved his mother’s murder and caught the real killer. They were still waiting on having the appeal hearing, but his father’s lawyer was very optimistic – there was a meeting set up to discuss the possibility in two days. Barry would have thought he was dreaming if he didn’t have to feed an imprisoned Meta-murderer every few hours. 

It was building up to be such a good week. S.T.A.R. Labs had successfully contacted the police about the Reverse-Flash. Cisco and Catlin had given Captain Singh a tour of the lab and a very detailed explanation of what happened, starting from the sabotage of the particle accelerator and the deliberate creation of the Metas to the continued invasive surveillance of Barry disguised as concern over his health. The photos Leonard had found, plus the videos of Thawne in action, had managed to convince him. (Luckily the list of deaths that they could prove were Thawne’s doing kept them from being arrested for having him unlawfully trapped in the pipeline – Barry was once again glad the other Meta’s had been set free, even if it didn’t bode well for the future banking days.) They were working on a contract with S.T.A.R. Labs to get Cisco’s tech inside a wing of Iron Heights so that Metas could be safely contained (once properly convicted of course).

Cisco was over the moon at the chance to design more tech for the police, and the paycheque that the opportunity brought with it. S.T.A.R. Labs was once again working towards being an operational research laboratory again, and the whole team was celebrating.

And celebrating more than just the Lab’s rebirth – not willing to wait another moment, Caitlin and Ronnie had been married by Stein on the front lawn of the Lab with all of Team Flash in attendance. (It had been very inspiring to Iris, who was already collecting binders of ideas to create her own dream wedding.) It had been spontaneous and beautiful, and after the vows had been spoken, Barry and Cisco had surprised the happy couple with plane tickets to Hawaii. Caitlin and Ronnie had been overjoyed to leave for their much overdue honeymoon. So overjoyed that Barry suspected that they wouldn’t be too quick to rush back – Cisco had received an offhand text from Ronnie that they had had so much fun on Lei Day that they were looking forward to seeing how many similar celebrations would be happening later.

But who could deny them their time, after over a year apart? Team Flash might be looking a little sparse, but Barry was sure that he could handle it until Caitlin got back and Cisco finished the Iron Heights work. Without the possibility of the Reverse-Flash threat hanging over their heads, all the other villains felt like small potatoes, and Barry was sure he could handle them.

Well, most of them. Barry honestly didn’t know how the next encounter with Captain Cold would go. After Barry had fulfilled Leonard’s blank cheque, the two of them had parted amicably. No promises to call or anything sentimental, but for once they’d _both_ been smiling as they parted. But Barry wouldn’t fool himself for a second that it meant Leonard would go easy on him the next time they fought. Hell, Barry was more worried that Leonard’s banter was going to change from talking puns to talking dirty, and that the tightness of the Flash suit wouldn’t help him deny how much he might like it.

Still, all seemed right in Barry’s world at the moment. And it made even the most grisly articles of his collection slightly less tragic to look at, and incredibly satisfying to finally throw away.

Barry had just managed to fit the last few pieces into the garbage can (having stomped the pile flat twice) when Captain Singh appeared in the doorway.

“Allen, glad you’re here.” He entered, beckoning another man to follow him. “I wanted to introduce you to Julian Albert. We’re starting a brand new Task Force at the CCPD and he’s been hired as the Meta-human CSI Specialist.”

Barry blinked in surprise. How the hell could anyone be considered a Meta-Human Specialist with how little exposure most people had? Only Cisco and Caitlin, could probably claim the title at this point, (as well as Barry himself though sadly, that was a secret). But if they weren’t counting on hands-on experience, then why hadn’t Barry been asked about the job first?

Man, he was really going to have work on his punctuality so it didn’t cost him any other promotions.

But he put on a smile and stuck out his hand, because as long as he still had his job, all was still good. “Nice to meet you. I’m Barry Allen.”

Julian sniffed, but took his hand. “Julian Albert. Cheers.” His eyes darted around Barry’s lab, taking in everything from the metal DIY shelving to the leaky skylight and a slight sneer curled the edge of his lip. “With all the new science that will need to be created to study this phenomenon I was expecting that the lab would be a little more….modern.” 

Barry bristled at the dig. He (and a revolving door of interns) had put a lot of the lab together themselves. And while the tech was a little dated, none of it was antique. Heck, the centrifuge was newer than the sweater he was wearing. “I think you’ll find everything here up to code. We’re careful to stay within current Laboratory quality standards.”

“There’s the poor service of just meeting standards and then there’s the good business of _exceeding_ them, Allen.” Julian pursed his lips. “I can see I’ll have to make a lot of changes around here to make sure we’re able to track down all these genetically flawed felons.”

“I’ll just leave you two to get acquainted and start re-organizing.” Captain Singh smiled awkwardly and left the room far too quickly for Barry’s liking. Apparently he didn’t want to referee.

“First off Allen, let’s get this desk moved. They’ll be delivering mine soon, and we’re going to need to make some room.”

Barry’s left eye twitched. So much for feeling like he was dreaming – reality’s wake-up call had hit, and was proving it could keep throwing problems his way. At least as police business went, a douche supervisor wasn’t the largest problem he could have.

“And what’s with all the paper in the garbage? Don’t you people know how to recycle?”

But it wasn’t exactly going to be a picnic either.

# ⚡❄⚡

Working under a new boss was difficult. Manning the Control Centre computers _and_ working as the Flash to fix the problems that he sussed out was even harder. With all the Iron Heights tech well underway, Barry couldn’t bring himself to drag Cisco away from all his new projects. So he made do, sometimes running the city with Cisco’s tablet to receive alerts, other times he’d run back and forth from S.T.A.R. Labs getting updates.

While on a break from doing the latter that night, the computer rang out with a warning – extreme cold out on the highway had triggered Cisco’s satellite sensors. Barry froze at the sound, an energy bar halfway to his mouth. Looks like his luck was back to running at its typical level of suck. Well, it was going to happen sometime. Better to know how Leonard planned to manipulate their new circumstances than keep worrying about it. Barry wolfed down the bar grimly and took off towards the coordinates.

It took three-tenths of a second for Barry to arrive on scene. It was surprisingly deserted for a Rogue heist; lately they’d been enjoying having an audience. But Barry could only see Captain Cold in full regalia, and one armoured truck that looked frozen solid. A single briefcase sat at Leonard’s feet.

“Flash!” Leonard spread his arms joyously. “It’s so _ice_ to see you! We were hoping you would show up.”

"We?” Barry did a quick recon. Captain Cold seemed to be the only Rogue around – There was nary a scorch mark or gold statue to be found. “You seem to a little _ice_ -olated here, Cold. I think maybe you should just leave the loot and go home. No harm no foul.”

“Well, that’s no fun.” Leonard gestured to Barry with the Cold Gun. “If you don’t want to play, then you shouldn’t have made the trip in the first place.” He shot a quick blast at Barry’s feet, making him do a quick jump to the left. A wall of ice spread from Barry’s vacancy all the way to the concrete divider, blocking the front of the truck in a semi-circle. 

“I think I have the advantage if you want to play this one-on-one.” Barry gave Leonard a grin and sped forward and snatched the briefcase, dodging another blast that skimmed his shoulder blades. He zipped back and dangled his prize between the two of them, showboating right back. “It’d be awful if you wound up going back to jail over such a small payday.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have time to take me to jail, today.” Leonard nodded towards the truck-cicle with confidence. “The guards must be getting awfully chilly by now.”

A sinking feeling started in Barry’s stomach. “The guards?” Come to think of it, armoured trucks didn’t drive themselves. Where were the guards?

“A little present for you, Scarlet. All the guards are safely boxed up in the back.”

Which was completely encased in ice.

“But the air is not infinite and I’m betting they really wish they’d brought their mittens on this run.” Leonard cheerfully charged the Cold Gun for another blast. “But look on the bright side,” he shot another stream of ice, this time not at Barry but to complete the ice wall to further block the truck. “Now you get to practice your little phasing trick.”

“I wasn’t needing to practice my phasing.” Barry spoke through gritted teeth. “I thought you agreed no more killing,”

Leonard tisked. “They’re barely even bruised. Certainly not dead. As long as you get a move on, everyone can be wrapped up in blankets and sipping cocoa in no time.”

Barry did some quick math. If he had to phase through the ice wall, and then again through the truck and back out again, with presumably at least two other people…”And plenty of time for you to get away.” There was no way he could save the guards and keep Leonard from leaving the scene. It was actually a bit of a relief.

“Exactly.” Leonard savoured the word. He spread his arms wide. “What’s it gonna be, Flash? An arrest or a rescue? You’ll get a scolding either way. Central City’s finest can be quite stingy with the gratitude when it comes to their heroes having impossible choices.”

No question; Barry had to make sure the guards were safe. “You might have planned a great escape, Cold, but it’s an empty one.” Barry spun the briefcase handle around his fingers. “I’m taking this with me.” And he slipped through the ice wall to get the last word.

Beyond the frozen barrier he could hear Len laughing. “Keep it! I’ll get it back later!”

Yeah right. Frustrated, Barry phased into the truck, startling the hell out of the three men trapped inside. Three, not-really-that-cold-yet men.

“It’s the Flash!” The youngest of them blurted. Barry waved at them weakly.

“Uh, hi? Is everyone all right?”

“Nobody’s hurt.” Another man confirmed to Barry. “But we’ve lost all jewelry we were escorting to Gotham City. Captain Cold, Heatwave and Golden Glider cleaned us out.”

Barry squeezed his eyes shut, a headache threatening to form. “This wasn’t the only case, was it?” He held up the briefcase from Len that he’d so smugly hung onto.

“No, there were four more.” Barry hung his head at the slow realization he’d been tricked. “The big guy loaded up with them and took off.” The younger guard, who was probably a half a decade younger than Barry was eager to provide the Flash with anything that he wanted to know. “Captain Cold stayed behind to lock us in the back so we couldn’t radio it in.” 

“So Heatwave took the loot and then Cold froze you all in the truck?”

“No, he just locked the doors.” The third guard finally spoke up. He seemed to be the only one that had been roughed up, the muzzle imprint of the Heat Gun present on one cheek. His eyes widened as he thought about Barry’s question. “Is the truck frozen? Are we all stuck in here?”

“No, no one is stuck.” Barry was quick of offer reassurance. “I can get you all out of here.” Because of course, the truck had only been frozen a moment ago when the alert had sounded. The guards still had plenty of air, and it had barely begun to cool. And Leonard would be long gone, to join Mick and Lisa and all the bounty. The Flash had been fooled once again.

Yep. Life was definitely back to its regularly scheduled level of suck.

# ⚡❄⚡

Guards saved, a fifth of the stolen jewelry returned and three autographs distributed later, Barry returned to S.T.A.R. Labs to call it a night. His little “phasing trick”, performed six times in quick succession while carrying passengers had wiped him out.

After scarfing down three more bars, he then raided Cisco’s candy drawer for good measure. Nothing would encourage Cisco to make more bars than to find that Barry had eaten all of his stash.

He replaced the Flash suit on the mannequin, showered and powered down the main systems. The regular alerts would remain in sleep mode unless disturbed by satellite activity. Satisfied that the Lab would run itself and let him sleep, Barry switched off the light, stepped into the hall and smacked straight into Leonard.

“I want the case back.” Leonard baldy stated, ignoring the fact that Barry was pretty much stepping on his toes. “I need it to make it a more even split with Lisa and Mick.”

“Well, I don’t have it here.” Barry almost vibrated with the indecision of whether to move back and give them both space, or move forward and see if Len’s lips were as warm as his persona was cold. “And you don’t need more of a thing to make shares even – you just need to divide it evenly. Donate some to the homeless if one or two of you have too much.”

Leonard scoffed. “You can never have too much. No, smaller shares aren’t an option.”

Barry held up his empty hands. “You know perfectly well I’ve already given the case back to the security guards. _Who were fine, by the way._ Can’t you just be happy with how stupid I looked to them?”

A smirk toyed at the edges of Leonard’s mouth. “You might have felt stupid, but you still looked amazing as you brought three men out of a locked box by what you could easily call magic.”

“Did-did you stay and watch?” Barry could have kicked himself. He’d assumed Len would have taken off immediately, so he hadn’t bothered to do any recon.

“I had to see.” Leonard mused. “You know, you could give David Copperfield a run for his money if you wanted to change careers.” He poked Barry in the chest. “And I saw you give them back _my_ jewelry. Now I have to take the smallest share so Mick and Lisa won’t fight.”

“If you know it’s already gone, what do you expect me to do?”

The hand pressed up against Barry’s chest wandered up to grasp the collar of his jacket, rubbing it between thumb and fingers. Len’s gaze flickered down and back up Barry’s body. “Make it up to me?”

Heat spiked through Barry’s body, and he suddenly had enough energy to phase through every wall between him and his bed, while carrying Len with him. With sleep no longer the activity at the top of his to do list. Thank God he’d eaten everything in Cisco’s candy drawer.

“Are you asking me for sexual favours to make you feel better about me not letting you steal all of the jewelry?”

“Nooooooo,” Len drawled, hand wandering once more to toy with the jacket’s zipper, opening it a bare inch. “I’m asking if you want to _play.”_

And suddenly Barry’s luck was taking another violent swing upwards. “Do I get to pick the game this time?”

“I could be persuaded with the right prize.”

“You win, I’ll give you a vibrating handjob.”

Leonard licked his lips, pupils dilated to where Barry could only see a hint of the blue in his eyes. He liked that idea. “And if you win?”

Barry hesitated. He didn’t want to set any terms that might make Len uncomfortable. It was still too early, their games too delicate. “If I win, then you give me one.”

“Minus the vibrating, sadly.” Leonard coyly dragged the zipper the rest of the way down. “But I’ll think of something. Wouldn’t do to shortchange a hero.”

Barry zipped back into the Lab, and reappeared in front of Leonard in the Flash suit. “Are you okay if I run us….” His voice trailed off. The one time he’d run with Leonard, it hadn’t been for fun, and he actually didn’t know if Leonard had taken issue with being carried. He’d been too angry at the time to even think of caring about it.

Leonard brightened. “If you want.” His expression betrayed the casual tone he was trying to strike. Maybe he liked the rush as much as Barry did. He rode a motorcycle, after all.

“Hold on for a second.” Barry scooped up Leonard and rushed them down to the middle of the pipeline, long past any of the Meta cells and their lone occupant. He set Leonard down carefully, but Leonard recovered the fastest of anyone Barry had ever taken with him; only taking seconds to assimilate the change in scenery.

“Pick a number between one and ten.” 

Leonard’s gaze focused back on Barry. “Three.”

Barry nodded. “We’re down in the pipeline of the particle accelerator. I’m going to run three laps around it. If you can make me stop with only three shots of your cold gun, then you win. If I get three laps completed without being hit, I win.”

Leonard nodded slowly. “Deal. One thing though?”

“What would you like?”

“I want something to mark each completed lap. A line drawn on the wall or a marker knocked over, so you can’t claim to have just gone so fast I didn’t even see you complete the laps.”

“Sure.” Barry ran back to the Lab and snagged three empty Belly Burger cups. Bringing them back to Len, he arranged them in a neat line on the main conductor pipe in the wall. “There. You can defend them to keep me from completing the laps.”

Leonard gave Barry a fierce grin. “You can bet on it.”

Barry grinned back. He would certainly play to win, but he wasn’t going to mind if he lost this battle either. “Say when.”

Len pulled his goggles up over his eyes, and charged the Cold Gun with a snap. “Count of three, Flash.”

Barry got into a sprinter’s crouch. “One.”

“Two.”

“Three.” Both men called out and Barry leapt into motion, feet taking him down the familiar path of the particle accelerator. It crossed Barry’s mind that it would only take him five seconds to traverse the pipeline completely and be back to strike the first mark. Maybe he should have given Len a minute or two first to set up some defense. Or at least make a plan.

But who knew, maybe Len didn’t overly mind if he won or lost this round either.

Coming up on the first lap, Barry spotted Len’s change in position. Instead of standing in front of the cups for defense, Leonard had moved down slightly, towards Barry’s returning figure. Barry figured he would attack on approach, so he moved wide to compensate. It should be simple to skirt around Len just as he fired, and Barry zigzagged, hoping to catch Leonard off guard.

It seemed to work. Barry easily slipped around Leonard, who actually fired after Barry passed him, and Barry was able to avoid the blast by moving closer to the wall and his target. He grabbed the first cup and tossed it back towards Len. “Too slow! That’s one down!”

“Still two to go for both of us.” Leonard’s warning was shouted down the pipeline after him, and Barry grinned. He was going to win this one.

He did a quick spiral running up along the walls and ceiling just for fun and sped back down for the completion of the second lap. Leonard hadn’t moved, so Barry made the same approach, waiting to see where the next shot was aimed.

In what must have been a miscalculation on Len’s part, Barry was actually pushed even closer to the wall – he knocked over the second cup and avoided the cold stream by letting the momentum take him up the wall.  
“That makes two, Cold!” Barry gleefully let gravity bring him back down to the floor. “I think you’re going to have to check the sight on your gun! You seem to beeeeeeeeeee…..” Barry shrieked as his feet went straight out from under him as he touched down. He slid along the ground a good twenty feet until friction reappeared, and then rolled gracelessly on the cement for another ten. He was exceedingly lucky that he continued in a straight line. If he’d hit a wall, he’d have broken a bone for sure. It was only Cisco’s suit that kept his skin intact. Unexpected stops were the one downside to superspeed.

Leonard must have been channeling some of that speed, because a second after Barry came to a full stop (and several seconds before he’d be able to get back up) Leonard was dropping down to rest a knee on Barry’s stomach in a gentle pin.

“That was three for me.” Len slid the goggles back down around his neck. “Did you know I can make black ice as easily as I can make a solid wall? It’s all about the setting on the Cold Gun.”  
“Well I know that _now_.” Barry tapped out against Len’s leg. “Let me up. You win.”

“I always win.” Len smugly stood and held out a hand to Barry, helping the bruised speedster stand and dust off.

“And the more you do, the more of your tricks I’ll be able to learn for the next time.” Barry shot back, and dug into his sleeve to find the edge of a glove and peel it off. “And then, just think when that happens of what you might owe _me_.” He reached for the other glove and remembered something. “Shit, we need lube.”

Leonard raised an eyebrow and Barry coloured. He hastened to explain. “I mean, if you the vibrating, it will chafe something awful without lube.” Barry rubbed at his rapidly heating cheeks. “Trust me, spit isn’t enough. I’ll be right back.”

“No need.” Leonard opened his parka and pulled a bottle out of one the inner pockets. “I came prepared.”

“Was this your plan all along? Was stealing the jewelry your idea of foreplay?”

Len rolled the bottle between his hands, warming it. “If I’d been aiming at foreplay, I’d have been robbing a room at the Ritz. This was just wishful thinking.” He smiled. “And didn’t it work out perfectly?”

Barry just laughed and shook his head, holding out his hand for the bottle. “You’re terrible, Len.”

“And you’re stalling, Scarlet.” Leonard popped the button open on his pants and unzipped. “I for one, am quite eager to see how a vibrating handjob compares.”

Barry stepped forwards and slid the tips of his fingers inside the waistband of Len’s shorts. “Oh? So if I said I’d get the jewelry back…..”

“Surprisingly less tempting now.” Len thrust his hips into Barry’s hand as it trailed down to circle the base of his shaft. “Though not enough for me to give any jewelry back.”

Barry gently lifted Leonard’s cock out from the confines of his boxers, slipping the opening down around his sack. “You never know.” He uncapped the bottle and coated the twitching pole of flesh liberally, as well as his hand. “I’m going to start slow and increase the speed of my hand in increments. You let me know the second it gets too much and I’ll dial it back to where it stays comfortable. Too much of a good thing and all.”

Leonard licked his lips. “And you’ll stay at ‘comfortable’ until I’m done?”

“Or until you tell me to stop.” Barry wrapped his hand around Len’s cock and oh so gently vibrated the ball of this thumb against the head, enjoying the whine it drew from the older man’s throat. “And it’s okay if you have to stop. The first few times I tried this, it was super intense.” He let the vibrating spread across his entire hand, giving Len the first taste of what was to come. “It took a few tries until I figured out what I could handle.”

“If I get several tries at this, I’m going to start stealing lottery tickets.” Leonard grunted and grabbed at Barry’s shoulders to keep his balance as the speedster’s tempo increased. 

Barry grinned, but kept his attention on his hands, not wanting to risk an ill-timed movement on either of their part. He eased up on his grip and added a careful twist of his hand, making Leonard moan.

“Still okay?” Barry thought it prudent to ask, since Leonard’s fingernails were trying to dig their way through his suit and into the flesh beneath.

“Just peachy.” Leonard’s voice was strained. “Don’t you goddamn dare stop now.”

“No, no.” Barry reassured him, turning the vibrating up another notch. He cupped Leonard’s balls with his free hand, and smoothed some of the excess lube down them. “I just want to take care of you.” He started up a slower pace with that hand, giving the tender sack the attention it deserved. It made Leonard shudder violently so Barry gently backed Leonard up against the wall for some extra support if his legs started to give and stroked Leonard’s cock harder.

“Yesssss.” Leonard hissed through his teeth and his hips began pump into Barry’s hand in earnest. Barry lay his cheek against Len’s forehead, savouring the sweat beading against the thief’s prominent widow’s peak. Barry was doing something right. He turned up the vibration another notch.

“There! There! Justlikethatdon’tstop!” Leonard came apart under his hands and the thrill of watching the unflappable Captain Cold scream his pleasure at Barry’s good work had Barry ready to spill inside the Flash suit.

“I’ve got you.” Barry soothed, keeping his hands working at the pace that was giving his nemesis such unbridled pleasure. “Whenever you’re ready, Len. I’ve got you.”

Leonard was long past ready. When he started shuddering, his release spurting over the speedster’s hand, Barry actually had to stop the extra vibration to Leonard’s testicles and grab the man around the waist to keep him from crashing to the concrete. Together they slumped to the floor, Leonard bonelessly sliding down the wall in afterglow.

Barry sat back on his legs, regarding his thoroughly pleasured partner, who offered him a shakey version of his trademark smirk.

“That was worth so much more than all the jewelry.”

Barry grinned back, so very pleased that Leonard was pleased. “You don’t have to tell me. You looked like a million bucks with your dick in my hand.” He locked eyes with Leonard and brought the hand in question up between them. And then with a daring that surprised even him, his tongue darted out and licked a gob of Leonard’s cum off of his index finger, humming in satisfaction.

Delicious.

Leonard shot forward and yanked Barry’s mask off, bringing their mouths together with an almost audible clash of teeth. He held Barry’s face clamped between his hands, lips feeding at the younger man with an ardour that put Barry’s vibrating to shame. 

It was brutal and bruising, demanding and devouring and Barry loved every second of it. He submitted instantly, opening his mouth to let Leonard’s tongue dip inside. He met the glide of the slick organ with his own, encouraging Leonard to press deeper, further.

The kiss became sweeter the longer it went on, Leonard’s fierceness turning gentle once he was sure Barry wasn’t going to push him away. Barry took his own foray into Leonard’s mouth, taking permission from the way Leonard only pulled him closer. Leonard’s mouth tasted of strongly of mint and faintly of beer and purely of Leonard. Each stroke of his tongue teasing and tasting Barry was driving the speedster wild, and Barry wished he’d had the courage to kiss him after their first orgasm exchange. Kisses like the one they traded now were so good and so rare, he wanted the opportunity to have as many as possible.

So the kissing continued, the heat from their mouths spreading down throughout Barry, pooling deep in his stomach and adding more constriction in the crotch of the Flash suit. He was going to be jerking off to the memory of this kiss for a long time. His record after gaining his speed was seven times in one night. It was easy to imagine surpassing that, and this was just from Leonard’s kiss.

Of course, the memories of his blowjob promised Barry an early death from dehydration if he used that as masturbatory material, so fair to say dreaming of the kiss would be at least swoon-worthy.

A few minutes or several years later, Leonard finally drew back enough that both men gasped for air.

“If you always kiss like that, then I think I win too.” Barry panted against Leonard’s cheek.

“Smooth talker.” Leonard murmured against Barry’s ear. “You’ll turn a boy’s head with those kinds of compliments.” His hands drifted from cupping Barry’s face to slide through his messy curls, making his case of hat hair (okay, mask hair) unredeemable until he got his hands on a brush. “Want me to earn a few more?”

“What did you have in mind?” A thrill ran up Barry’s spine. He wouldn’t turn down a handjob if Len wanted to reciprocate. The zipper on the Flash suit was threatening to leave a permanent imprint on his dick; it would save Barry the trouble of speeding home to take care of business solo. “Want to show me how your talented hands compare to your silver tongue?”

“Actually, I was thinking more that I have condoms in my pocket too, and that I’ve wanted your perfect ass for a long time.” Leonard stroked his hands through Barry’s hair. “What would you say to a quickie against the wall, Scarlet?”

Barry’s mouth turned dry. Of all the perfect fantasies…

But, while he’d had girlfriends in high school, he’d never had boyfriends. College had provided a whole new world of hook-ups, but with guys he still hadn’t gone beyond hand and blowjobs. So in a way, he was still a virgin. Or half of one. However it was counted.

“I’m not saying no,” Barry replied slowly, rocking back on his heels. “But I haven’t ever….bottomed before. Or topped with a man.” His cheeks burned. Len was going to have a fucking field day with this. “So if you want to, you’d have to – we’d have to go slow.” Barry bit back his first request of ‘you’d have to be gentle’. He’d given Len enough pun material as it was.

Leonard was looking at Barry like all his Christmases had come at once, and it made Barry fidget nervously. God, he had to get better at reading this man. The dark mysterious persona was quick to draw you in, but if Barry couldn’t learn how to navigate him, one day he wasn’t going to survive their shenanigans.

Then wonder of wonders, Len’s gaze turned gentle and he stretched up to meet Barry in a surprisingly chaste press of lips. “This isn’t the best location for a first ride. When – _if_.” Len corrected himself. “ _If_ sometime you decide you’d like to give bottoming or topping a try, we’ll play somewhere with a bed. A nice one.” Len finished with a coy little smile.

Nearly dizzy with relief, Barry pressed a kiss to Len’s lips right back. “You’re cool with that?”

Leonard laughed just as Barry heard his inadvertent pun. “Scarlet, I am cool with everything.” Leonard stood, pulling Barry with him as the look in his eyes went from gentle to lascivious. “And I’m still going to pay you back. You sure you just want a hand? We could see how many times I can suck you off before your magic refractory period gives out.”

Barry vibrated a little at Len’s words, making him chuckle, and reach for the Speedster’s belt. “We have a winner.” He twisted the clasp on the strip of leather, opening it easily.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Barry croaked as Leonard drew his suit zipper down the length of his body, giving his dick a breath of fresh air. “You won, after all.”

“If this isn’t winning, then I don’t know what is.” Leonard slipped his hands inside the Flash suit jacket, stroking along Barry’s ribcage. “I came, I sucked, I conquered.” His hands traced deeper, curling around Barry’s back to run along his spine. “I’m going to swallow you down so deep, taste every inch of you…”

Leonard trailed off as his fingers touched the top of the cleft of Barry’s ass, as if something had just occurred to him. “Barry?”

“Yes?” Barry squirmed under the caress, not sure if he was more eager to have Leonard’s fingers move lower or to have them move away.

“You said that you’d never bottomed….have you ever been rimmed?”

Barry’s mouth went completely dry. “Uh, no? I mean, I didn’t think anyone liked doing that outside of pornos.”

Leonard tisked. “Oh you poor, misinformed boy. It’s fun to do and even better to receive. Want one?” His hands left Barry’s ass to journey to Barry’s shoulders, lifting the form-fitting jacket to pull it down and off Barry’s arms. “You didn’t mind it when I rubbed your hole when I blew you the last time. Just think how much nicer it would feel if it was with my tongue.” Barry was now naked to the waist, with Leonard still tugging the Flash suit down. “Bet you’d like it, Barry. So say yes.”

“What, no demand for me to beg for it?” Barry gasped as the suit was pulled to his thighs, leaving him so very exposed.

Leonard circled Barry’s cock with one of his damnably clever hands and gave him a pump. “You’ll beg for it every time after. Right now, I just want permission. Say ‘yes’ and I promise you’ll come so hard, your lightning will scorch the wall.” Another pump and Barry cried out, thrusting into Leonard’s hand. “Say yes, Barry.”

“Yes Leonard.” Barry breathlessly agreed, hypnotized at the sight of Leonard’s hand working his dick. Why not? He had so much more to gain than lose right now.

Leonard grinned, and gave Barry a quick peck. “Wonderful. Up against the wall and assume the position, Flash.” He dropped hard and fast, taking the suit down with him the rest of the way, helping Barry step out of his boots. Naked, Barry placed his hands on the wall and bent slightly, spreading his legs like Leonard was about to frisk him.

Leonard’s hands took hold of his hips and Barry nervously glanced back at his nemesis. Frenemy with benefits? What would the appropriate term be at this point?

“Shhhh.” Leonard soothed, massaging Barry’s ass. “I’ve got you, Scarlet.” He spread Barry’s cheeks gently. “Ooooh, you’re beautiful.”

“What?”

A finger ran down the cleft of his ass, circling the ring of nerves tenderly. “Look at you, so pink and tight. I bet if you took my finger right now, you’d squeeze it like a fist.” Leonard continued to stroke the puckered opening while Barry trembled; in nerves or pleasure, he wasn’t sure. “I don’t think my fantasies came close to the real thing.” 

Barry blushed, never imagining he’d have someone wax poetic about his asshole. It was mortifying, and a little exciting. He suddenly pictured having Len in a similar state, and wondered if he’d like having their roles reversed; wondered if he’d be any good at it.

Barry gave a squeak at the first flick of Leonard’s tongue, the gentle brush of cool fingers being replaced by the warm organ that licked, probed and oh-so-slowly pushed its way inside of him. It was soft, wet and excruciatingly wonderful. He whimpered, and then turned his head to bit down on his own bicep to muffle any more embarrassing sounds.

Len knew. Of course he knew. The silver tongued devil (and oh, how that term suited him in so many ways) spent what seemed like forever circling and teasing Barry’s entrance with the tip of said talented tongue.

“I was right, wasn’t I?” Leonard blew softly on the wet ring of muscle and Barry gasped. “I think you like it. It quivers and tries to draw me in every time I touch it.” His tongue probed Barry again, and slid a little further inside. Barry felt like his whole body was pulsing in time with Leonard’s forays inside of him.

“God yes.” Barry gasped. “Fuck, your tongue isn’t your biggest weapon, but it’s probably your greatest one.”

Leonard chuckled low against him, and Barry had to grab the base of his dick to keep him from ending things so soon. “Just the tip of the iceberg, kid.”

That tip quickly returned to its primary task of driving Barry insane. Leonard was right - Barry was definitely enjoying himself. So much so he was going to try fingering himself the next time he jerked off. After all, the more he got used to it, the more they might be able to do the next time.

Holy shit, was he already hoping and planning for there to be third time?

Leonard’s tongue did an odd little flicking motion around his rim and then pushed deep inside. Barry whined, and found himself pushing back, hand around his cock using the leftover lube to work himself further. To hell with making things last. He’d just have to see if he could sneak in more than one before Len called it quits.

“More?” Len’s breath ghosted across the back of Barry’s thighs, and a finger stroked Barry’s hole so lightly that Barry almost thought he’d imagined it. “Something a little harder, perhaps?”

“Please,” Barry choked out. “I need more. I’m almost there.” His hand worked frantically, not quite calling on his speed, but close. Leonard’s finger pushed in carefully and Barry clenched around it with a moan. Yes, that was more of what he needed. More, but not enough. “Deeper.”

“You sure?” Leonard questioned him as he just as carefully pulled out. The finger entered him again, pushing farther and Barry back bowed in pleasure.

“Yes! Very sure!” Barry panted, thrusting into his own hand. Leonard’s finger slid all the way in, stroking and curling against all kinds of fun places. Why the hell hadn’t Barry already tried his own fucking fingers? It’s not like any of the porn he’d watched had stinted on the subject. Leonard pressed hard against what Barry assumed had to be his prostate because it felt incredible – and Barry couldn’t do anything but keen, vibrations taking over.  
The tremors went down into the hand working his cock, and Leonard’s head popped up to rest on Barry’s shoulders.

“Now if that isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever seen, and thanks to Mick, that’s saying something.” Leonard purred into Barry’s ear, his eyes riveted on the sight of Barry jacking himself off. His finger was still thrusting in and out of Barry, continuing the sensations.

“Don’t stop,” Barry choked out.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Leonard closed his teeth around Barry’s earlobe and tugged lightly.

Barry came hard, spattering the wall with cum and throwing delicate patterns of lighting over both himself and Leonard. The stream of static didn’t seem to bother the older man, he just caught Barry around the waist as his legs buckled, and pulled Barry into his lap as they both collapsed back on the ground.

Barry felt a little bereft as the finger left his ass, and he fought not to cuddle back into Leonard to make up for the loss. Leonard’s arms came up around Barry, one hand grabbing under Barry’s chin, forcing him to look at Leonard as the other hand brought Barry’s cum covered fingers to Leonard’s mouth. The pink tongue that had given Barry so much delight flicked out and tasted the seed covering Barry’s hand.

“Talk about a million bucks.” Leonard grinned, and kissed Barry’s cheek fondly. “You taste so good.”

Barry relaxed against Len minutely, smiling wryly at the feeling of the parka’s faux fur tickling the back of his neck. “So do you.” He let his free hand trail downwards to squeeze Leonard’s thigh. “I don’t suppose you want to play “two-out-of-three” again?”

“Why Flash, you naughty boy.” Leonard licked Barry’s fingers again, slowly dragging his tongue from fingertip to palm and back up again. “You definitely know how to show a guy a good time.”

Barry reddened, but continued boldly, knowing Leonard was more interested than he’d let on. “I could speed us back up to the lab. You remember that the beds fit both of us? Well, so does the shower.” Barry shyly gave Leonard’s thigh another squeeze. “I could wash your back. Give you some “all-over” vibration action.”

Leonard hummed in consideration. “Tempting, but I could just wash out my mouth and give you the blow job I promised.” His hand snaked down to play with Barry’s re-hardening cock. “I bet I could make you cum at least three times before my jaw gives out.”

“I bet you can do at least five.” Barry whispered. Leonard smiled wickedly and dropped his own head to connect their mouths in a kiss……

That was ruined by a blast of static from the intercom.

“Barry, are you in the pipeline?” Cisco’s voice echoed through the Lab. “I can see the suit’s sensors on my screen, but you’re not coming up on any of the cameras.”

And thank God for that. In the next second Barry had both Leonard and himself dressed, all evidence disposed of, and was reaching for his com system to contact Cisco directly.

“Hey Cisco. I was just uh, doing a few laps to blow off steam.”

Cisco’s voice rang suspiciously in his ear. “Just some laps? You’re not spending any time with our resident evil mastermind down there, are you?”

Barry’s eyes bugged out and his heart-rate of three hundred beats per minute actually stuttered into normalcy before he realized Cisco was referring to Thawne, still housed in a cell a half a mile away, and not Leonard, who was dusting off his pants and returning the Cold Gun to its holster.

“No, just having some fun.” Barry’s voice took on a near hysterical pitch, and Leonard stopped to grin at him. “I mean, just _running_ around for fun.”

Cisco didn’t notice the verbal slip. “Cool. I’ve finished some new prototypes of the Meta dampeners for Iron Heights that I was telling you about. Wanna come up and test them with me? I brought some Big Belly Burger.”

Disappointment coiled around Barry’s gut. The moment and mood were certainly ruined. He and Len wouldn’t be continuing their tryst tonight. “Uh, sure.” Barry chewed on his lower lip. “I’ll be a second though. I’ve got to clean up the – uh, obstacle course I set up.”

Cisco laughed. “Take two if you need them. I’m going to cue up more Doctor Who. We might as well keep the marathon going.”

“Sounds good.”

Barry turned to Leonard dejectedly. “I’m sorry.”

Leonard shrugged neutrally. “Not your fault. We didn’t exactly pick a spot that had privacy as a guarantee.” His Captain Cold drawl was returning, also signalling the end of the fun. “Is there a way out of here that bypasses Cisco? I don’t think he’d be nearly as happy to see me as you were.”

Barry considered, looking up and down the pipeline both ways. He pointed left. “Down this side of the tunnel, about four hundred yards, there’ll be an access tunnel leading to a hatch on the far side of the parking lot. You can open it from this side without a code, and it will lock automatically when it closes, so there shouldn’t be any problem.”

“No extra cameras or sensors?”

“Nothing that will send an alert. I can delete the records later.”

“Good to know.” Leonard give Barry a sly look. “Do I get a kiss goodnight?”

Barry sped forward and caught Leonard’s face between his hands, mirroring their earlier fervour. Leonard kissed him tenderly, and chucked him under the chin. “I’ll see you around, Scarlet.”

As Barry watched Leonard stride towards the exit, a surprising pang of loneliness struck him. This wasn’t the way he’d thought his evening would go, but now this certainly wasn’t the note on how he wanted it to end. He wanted to part on happier terms than the proverbial “sneaking out the bedroom window so they didn’t get caught” routine.

“Hey, Len?”

Leonard turned towards Barry in surprise, and Barry felt foolish. Who even knew if this was anything more to Leonard than another way to mess with the Flash. Still, he had to try. Without thinking any harder about it he blurted out, “Same time next heist?”

The smile that broke out on Len’s face was the brightest Barry had ever seen, and it went a long way to easing the tension inside him.

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Barry stayed in the same spot until Leonard was out of sight. Now that was a much better way to say goodbye.

Of course, the mood was short lived as the intercom crackled to life once more with outrage.

“Barry! Did you eat all my Twizzlers?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I figured from the Flashpoint timeline that Julian would have had to have started working in the summer after Barry caused the black hole to make the statement that Barry had been working with him for a whole year (at the time of creating Flashpoint) true. So here he is, to spread his jerkiness to all. (Not my fav character by far as you can tell, but he's still so necessary. Sigh.)
> 
> Now Barry and Len can experiment a little with how to fight and not endanger the public or kill each other. And of course, if that's their idea of foreplay, then who are we to judge?


	6. Here Today, Thawne Tomorrow

Barry stared at the District Attorney Horton in disbelief, stomach twisting in anxiety. “Are you sure that’s what he said?”

Cecile nodded, sympathetic, but serious. “Doctor Wells has stated that he’s willing to give a full confession under oath to the murder of Nora Allen provided that he speak with you in person, off the record for five minutes.” She hesitated and continued. “There are a few other demands regarding the transfer of the S.T.A.R. Labs property and conversations with Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow, but the discussion with you is the only term that is non-negotiable.”

Barry gritted his teeth. Of course it was. “And if I don’t speak with him?”

Cecile spread her hands. “Then we proceed without the confession. It will just take us longer to establish proof of his Meta abilities, and compare those capabilities to the evidence left at the scene. It’s certainly not impossible.”

“But the confession would take away any doubts, wouldn’t it?”

“And it would speed things along considerably.” Cecile nodded. “Barry, I know that it is a lot to ask of you. You have done so much for your dad’s case over the years, with so little reward. If you think you could handle hearing whatever that monster had to say, this would be the last thing you’d ever have to do.”

Barry anxiously drummed his fingers on her desk. “What would guarantee he’d give the confession after I talked to him?”

Cecile’s mouth pursed in disgust. “ _Allegedly,_ he may have already made a video confession that was to be released to you upon his death. He seemed to think that if he was killed by the Flash before you managed to prove his guilt, then he wanted to leave that for you.” Her eye twitched. “His lawyer made it sound like it was a final token of his affection.”

Barry felt an almost hysterical laugh building up in his throat. Thawne had surprisingly not denied the story they’d concocted to cover up of Barry’s secret identity, so the child predator angle had stuck very well. Barry had cops that who had openly mocked him about his convict father now blazing with protective outrage at the violation of his childhood. Affection. He didn’t know whether to give into the laughter or puke on Cecile’s desk.

“And the lawyer will give this to us after I talk to Wells?” Barry clenched his hands into fists. “There’s no way it’s a con?”

Cecile pulled out a sheaf of papers from Thawne’s lawyer. “I’ve been given a signed statement about the chain of custody of this USB drive. Wells’ lawyer will be on the hook if it proves to be junk, and believe me, he isn’t being paid enough to tank his career. Especially not with the media that will be surrounding this case.”

“So the guarantee that it’s real is the bad publicity there’ll be if it’s not?” Barry could remember the horrifying media circus that surrounded his family when his father was charged. It was actually fairly plausible.

“I’ve promised him that if this falls through, it’s his name I’m giving to every reporter in the city to have them ask how Harrison Wells has gotten away with so much. Since his computer contained the proof that the sabotage of the Particle Accelerator was deliberate, all the deaths resulting from the destruction of that night and possibly the deaths that have happened from the creation of Meta-humans can be linked back to him as possible murder charges. It’s in both their best interests to keep this as quiet as possible.”

Barry took a shaky breath. This was it. After all his hard work, after so many years, it was still going to come down to faith in the evidence (which hadn’t helped his father enough so far) or faith in Wells. The lying, murdering scumbag that had been helping Barry all this time, much for his own ends, but not always. Could Barry really count on that not always part to rear its selfless head one last time?

“Tonight.” He croaked the word before he lost his nerve. “Tell the lawyer I’ll talk to Wells after work tonight for five minutes, and in return, I want to see the video immediately before you take it to the judge.” Better make sure that it said what it was supposed to say, and didn’t just out Barry as the Flash and pin the murder on _him_. “I need to know what it says before the world knows it too.”

Cecile reached out to take Barry’s hand comfortingly. “We can do that. I’ll meet you at S.T.A.R. Labs tonight. No matter what happens, we are getting your father out of jail, and putting your family back together.” Cecile hesitated and pulled back, shuffling her papers and storing them away in the desk drawers. “Speaking of family, how are Iris and Joe taking the news?” Her tone was so carefully neutral at Joe’s name that Barry knew she wanted more than just a “fine.”

“They’re happy for me, but I think now that we finally have real proof, Joe’s been feeling upset about having sent my dad to prison for all these years.” Barry lied easily. “I know he didn’t believe me for the longest time, and now that he knows for sure that I wasn’t seeing things when I was little, well, I think he’s upset. I hope he has someone to talk to about it.”

Now that was laying it on a little thick, but if Cecile would talk to Joe – well, both Barry and Iris had joked about Joe liking Cecile. And Joe had been alone for a long time. If Iris was getting married, and Barry was getting his dad back, then well, Joe deserved a new relationship too.

Cecile’s eyes turned instantly sympathetic. “I’ll talk to Joe.” _Yes!_ “I know it’s horrible, Barry, but we didn’t have the technology we have now, and you really can’t blame him for believing in a man that can run faster than the eye can see. I’ve seen dozens of videos of the Flash and other Meta-humans in action and I _still_ have trouble believing it sometimes.”

“I don’t blame him. At least not anymore.” Barry stood, taking his cue to leave. “I blame Wells. And I’ll see you tonight so we can finally put him where he belongs.”

Barry left the DA’s office, stomach churning. He had a lot to think about before he saw Thawne again.

# ⚡❄⚡

The familiar walk down to the pipeline did nothing to soothe Barry’s nerves. He was really starting to wish that Thawne didn’t want to talk to him alone. Oh, it was entirely to keep whatever secrets both Barry and Thawne had left out of non-team Flash hands, but Barry still was not looking forwards to talking to his matricidal mentor. He really wished that he could take Joe and Cisco in with him. Or hell, it would be nice if he could have even taken Leonard in with him – he was sure Leonard would gleefully take whatever Thawne had to say and use it to drive Thawne bonkers. Barry wished he had even an iota of that kind of craftiness. It might have prevented a lot of his current situation.

Cisco was coming up from the viewing port as Barry was going down. He looked extremely pensive. Barry reached out to touch his arm, and it gave Cisco a start, finally noticing Barry’s presence.

“You okay?”

Cisco gave a shudder, and wrapped his arms around himself. “Yeah. No. I will be.” He looked back up at Barry. “I’m sorry I didn’t wait – I needed….” His voice trailed off. “I had questions. Thawne was the one that I figured had an answer. I hope you don’t mind.”

“What? No.” Barry nodded towards the cells. “We all have some unfinished business with him. He didn’t say anything to mess with you, did he?”

Cisco gave a hollow laugh. “I think the truth messed with me enough. He didn’t have to do any more than confirm a theory.”

Barry frowned. “What theory?”

Cisco shook his head, looking queasy. “I’ll tell you later. I’ve got some stuff to figure out first.” He pointed back towards the cells’ only resident. “You’ve got your own answers to get.”

“Do I even have any questions?” Barry held out his hands helplessly. “Thawne wants to talk to me, not the other way around.”

“Then you must have an answer for him.”

Barry’s face darkened. “The only answer I have to give him is ‘no’.”

“Good for you, man.” Cisco clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll be waiting up in the Cortex with Joe and Cecile when you’re done.”

Barry hit the touch screen and opened the viewing doors to Thawne’s cell. He suppressed a flinch at the sight of the man he both had admired and hated for so long. Time alone in the Pipeline was not having a positive effect on the evil mastermind’s hygiene. 

“It’s been too long, Mr. Allen.”

“It would have been even longer if it was just a little easier to prove your powers to a jury without putting anyone in danger.”

Thawne sighed, and rested his arms against the glass. “I’ve told you already how easily you could make it so that sad situation never happened in the first place. You could have your mother and father back Barry. You could have the life you want. You have everything to gain from this.”

“And everything to lose.” Thawne looked up in surprise. Barry fought back tears. “I get my dad, but I lose Joe. I get my mom, but I lose my sister. I lose my powers, my friends, maybe even my job. If I accidentally create a black hole when I travel back in time, then we all would lose everything. I do want my mom. You took her and I miss her. But I don’t want to lose any more of my life. You don’t get to take anything else from me.” Barry’s voice turned cold. “And I’m certainly not going to reward you for it. You can stay in this time and make the most of your life, the same way I plan to.”

Thawne smacked the glass in rage. “I don’t belong here! I want to go home!”

“Then why didn’t you ever just ask?” Barry shouted back, finally voicing the obvious. “You were more than just a mentor to me! You were family, like Cisco and Caitlin! Why didn’t you ever bring this up to us as a request? If you had kept the Reverse-Flash side out of it, we would have been happy to help you!”

“If I hadn’t shown you my true self, you would have never become fast enough to help me, Mr. Allen.” Thawne’s face contorted with disgust. “You are nothing without me, Flash.”

“Then you only have yourself to blame for your situation, don’t you?” Barry shot back. “Everything you’ve done, you did for you. And now thanks to that, you can rot in jail until the clock turns to your time.”

“You can’t do this.” Thawne turned desperate. “You need me. You have no idea what is coming at you in the future. I am your greatest enemy, Flash, but I am certainly not your only one.”

Now wasn’t that another conundrum. But would knowing the future damage it or merely bring it into being? It wasn’t just the past that could be affected by Speedster meddling. Barry swallowed hard.

“If you’re my greatest enemy, then I’d say since the team stopped you, we can handle whoever’s next.” Barry’s resolve strengthened. “It’s another reason not to risk losing them.” He stepped closer to the glass. “You’re stuck here Thawne. And now I don’t have to see you again until far into the future. Then I’ll be the one who knows what’s going to happen.” Barry glanced at his watch. “Your time is up, Reverse-Flash. And my time is going to stay exactly as it is.” Barry hit the touch screen, signalling the viewing doors to close. “Thank you for a lot, Dr. Wells, but this is good-bye.”

The doors cut off Thawne’s reply, which Barry was certain was not kind. He fought the urge to speed into the Cortex and just snatch the USB from the lawyer’s hands. Instead, he wiped his eyes, and strode back up to the elevator with all the dignity he could muster.

He almost couldn’t take the looks of sympathy from Joe and Iris. Eddie was trying to have a conversation with Cisco who still looked like he’d swallowed a bug, but Barry could now guess at how the tone his conversation with Thawne had been, and couldn’t blame him in the slightest. Stein and Cecile were with Thawne’s attorney, all conversing heatedly. The man had his right fist tightly clenched and Barry would be willing to bet a paycheque that was the current location of the USB. And both Stein and Cecile wanted it.

“He’s down there talking to that monster, just like he said he would. Give Ms. Horton the flash drive.”

“Not until I confirm that my client has spoken with Mr. Allen as promised.”

“If you are planning to deny _my_ client that confession on any situation where you _imagine_ that he’s not holding up to what he promised a murdering pedophile – “ 

“It’s done.” Barry loudly interrupted Cecile before she could pull the man’s tie into a working noose. “We didn’t exactly give each other the answers we wanted, but we talked. And since we did, that means I get the confession to free my father.” He held out his hand demandingly, not caring about his manners. “Give it to me.”

The cheap plastic flash drive felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as it dropped into Barry’s palm. His vision narrowed into a very small field and he stalked towards the computer as the attorney blathered on behind him.

“There’s also the matter of the transfer of the S.T.A.R. Labs property and stocks. I have papers you’ll need to sign to take ownership.” Barry plugged the USB in as papers shuffled behind him. “Mr. Allen? I need your signature on a few things here.”

The monitor crackled to life and Barry stopped breathing.

“We’ll take those and get them back to you at the deposition.” Cecile’s voice quietly pushed the distraction away. And then the only thing that existed was Dr. Wells’ face on the screen.

“Barry. If you're watching this, that means I'm dead and the last 15 years have been for nothing. Bummer.” A cry of outrage from Iris was quickly shushed by Joe.

“15 years. You know, when I realize that in all those years helping raise you,” now a mutter from Joe had to be silenced, “we were never truly enemies, Barry. I'm not the thing you hate.” No. Now he was another parental figure that Barry had lost, and nothing was going to soothe that ache, no matter what the outcome of this final apology.

“And so, I want to give you the thing that you want most. It won't matter. You'll never be truly happy, Barry Allen, trust me. I know you. Now,” Thawne stopped to clear his throat and Barry couldn’t stop the noise of desperation that emerged from his own. “Give the following message to the police. My name is Harrison Wells. Being of sound mind and body, I freely confess to the murder of Nora Allen. In her home, on the night of March 18th, in the year 2000. I attacked Nora Allen in her dining room. I stabbed her in the chest - with a large butcher knife from the drawer to the left of the sink in the kitchen.”

“He confessed.” The bubble of hope that Barry had been nurturing for the past week expanded and sent a peaceful warmth through his body. Thawne had kept his word. He was going to be able to free his dad. The warmth dripped down his cheeks and Barry realized he was crying. He paused the video and turned to Joe. “We did it. He confessed.” Barry started laughing uncontrollably and both Joe and Iris wrapped their arms around him. Joe extracted the USB and handed it to Cecile.

“Is that all you need?”

Cecile nodded wordlessly and reached to touch Barry on the shoulder. “This is it. We’ve got it Barry. Your dad’s coming home.”

Barry’s laughter ran out much faster than his tears, but it was okay, because Team Flash was there to hold him until the end.

# ⚡❄⚡

Standing outside Iron Heights, it was the most beautiful day Barry had ever seen. It was taking everything he had not to phase in and out of Joe’s car as they both waited for Henry to emerge. He had been in a constant state of fidgeting for the last two days as the clock had counted down to the judge’s decision, and he hadn’t slept at all last night.

Joe peered back over his shoulder at the gate. “Reporters are still coming. I should have rented a truck. We’re going to have them climbing on the hood to get pictures.”

“I could speed them all down to Jitters.” Barry’s leg was jiggling impatiently enough that he could have pedalled the car Flintstone style. “Give them all a free coffee to make up for losing out on the story.”

Joe chuckled. “And then what are you going to do about Iris? You know she’s going to be dying to take an interview with Henry to CCPN.” He shook his head fondly. “That girl has bloodhound instincts. Thank God I talked her out of being a cop. She’d be the youngest to become lead detective ever.”

Barry laughed, and stretched his neck to check the front doors of the prison again. “I promised her that I would speed her and Eddie to Brazil for their Honeymoon if she would wait a day or two for dad to get acclimated before she started asked him for an exclusive.”

“Smart man.” Joe muttered, taking a sip from his travel mug. He gave Barry a side glance. “And you’re….okay with all that?”

Barry knew he meant more than just the chauffeuring. “Yeah. I know I missed my chance with Iris. And it’s not just the coma that’s to blame for that; it was me. I was too afraid. I could have told her how I felt anytime. I have to let her go before I make it so we can’t even be friends anymore.”

“She will always be there for you, Bare. It might not be in the way you wanted, but Iris is your best friend, and you are part of our family no matter what.”

Barry smiled, and it was more genuine than he thought it would be after getting a once-removed ‘let’s just be friends’ talk. “I know.”

“And your dad.” Joe amended quickly. “You are _both_ always our family.”

“You might not feel that way with both of us crashing on your couch.” Barry made Joe laugh.

“No, we’ll pack him into Iris’s room, and the whole place will be one giant bachelor pad.”

That in turn made Barry laugh. “So, does that mean the new Feng Shui for the living room is kegs and pizza boxes?” 

“You know, if you could still get drunk I’d be worried about that.” Joe muttered into the lip of his cup. “Oh – here we go.”

The door opened and a dozen cameras started snapping behind them. Henry stepped out into the courtyard and Barry was so excited he could have phased through the Earth. His dad squinted, raising his hand against the glare of the sun and what was probably a little supernova of flashbulbs behind them.

“Hey Slugger.” Henry’s greeting was almost shy. Reality was still sinking in for both of them – this wasn’t a quick trick of Joe’s inside the Prison, or a coincidence with the Trickster to threaten the Flash. They could actually spend time together – years together now, unseparated by a pane of bullet-proof glass. “I don’t know which one I owe you first, a thank you or an apology.”

Barry laughed and did his best to keep at human speeds as he burst forward to finally embrace his dad in freedom. To hell with everything else wanted but wouldn’t have – his longest standing wish had finally come true.  
The two of them hugged until Joe was able to shove them both into the backseat of his car. Reporters didn’t jump on the hood like predicted, but they experienced an exercise in frustration as Joe was forced to press forwards through the reluctantly moving crowd at a snail speed, not wanting to cause any injuries.

Once they hit the main roads, it was better. And when they reached the house it was much worse. Countless news vans cluttered the street, and Joe had to get out and flash his badge at several of them to move so he could get into the driveway.

But as soon as they were all safe inside, Barry latched back onto Henry in a bear hug, even as the rest of Team Flash jumped out to show off the beautiful “Welcome Home” party that was waiting.  
It was perfect – it looked like Iris had shanghaied both Eddie and Cisco into decorating the living room with homemade decorations and every design of “welcome back” balloon that existed. Stein and his wife Clarissa were bringing out cake and champagne. Barry loved them all for it.

Henry was happy to meet everyone who had contributed to his freedom. And he seemed to be okay with the fact he’d be sleeping in Iris’ old room; something that reminded Barry he was going to have to start apartment hunting to get somewhere he and his dad could call their own.

But they had time. Work later, play now. Barry cut himself more cake as Joe recounted all the times he’d had to cover for Barry at work while Barry was out doing Flash business. They were going to have to write a whole new book of excuses to keep him off of Singh’s shit list. (Not to mention Julian’s.)

Barry debated whether it would be okay for him to have a sixth piece of cake before he decided that he should leave the rest for the team and raid the cupboards for leftovers instead. Maybe they could order a few pizzas for the party. With garlic bread. And chicken wings.

Filling his arms with cracker boxes and Joe's "hidden" stash of Hostess cakes, Barry zipped back into the living room to steal a seat next to Henry on the couch. His dad jumped in surprise and then chuckled to Joe. "That must have taken some getting used to."

"At least there's no fights over the bathroom in the morning anymore." Joe saluted Henry with his half-empty glass of champagne. "Someone can finally get his hair sculpted before my bladder explodes."

"That was Iris." Barry protested around a mouthful of chocolate.

"That was both of you." Joe pointed fingers at Barry and Iris in turn. "Eddie, take that as a warning. Either get used to getting up extra early, or learn to hold it until you make it to work. Either way, your body's not going to thank you."

Eddie laughed and Iris playfully punched him in the arm. "Come on! I'm not that bad."

"I had to brush my teeth in the kitchen sink this morning. AND last night." Eddie poked fun at her gently. "You hog the bathroom sink like the faucet drips gold."

"So did Barry." Joe grumbled. "For years we had more hair product in this house than -"

"Martin!"

The group jumped at Clarissa's cry, and Barry sped over to Martin, who had doubled over clutching his chest. Cisco was holding onto his elbow in an effort to keep the scientist from hitting the floor.

“Professor Stein, are you alright?” Barry took his other arm and both men helped him to a chair. “Are you in any pain?” He could see his father getting up and was relieved. Henry might not have been practicing medicine for the last decade, but Barry was sure he’d be able to still be able to tell them if Stein was having a heart attack or stroke – then Barry could flash Stein to the hospital.

“It’s all right.” Stein gasped, a little colour coming back into his face. “I was just feeling dizzy. I don’t think it’s my heart.” He sat back in the chair, catching his breath. “I think I must have overdone it on the champagne.”

The group collectively breathed a sigh of relief. Henry still reached out a hand to take Martin’s pulse. “I think you should still get checked out. Even dizziness can be a beginning sign of something serious.”

Time slowed to a crawl for Barry as he watched Henry’s hand approach Stein’s wrist. His head gave a sharp pang of pain and he jumped purely on instinct, yanking Henry’s arm away as Stein burst into blue flames.

Barry moved into overdrive, moving everyone to the other side of the room, and snatching the fire extinguisher from the kitchen. Returning to regular speed, he started spraying the chair as it caught fire, trying not to accidentally smother the Professor with the foam. “Cisco! How do we make him stop?”

“We have to get him to the pipeline. It should block the radiation long enough for us to figure out what’s wrong.” Cisco yelled over the distressed cries of the group. Barry grimaced. Running while carrying someone who was on fire didn’t sound like a good plan. Add to the fact he was going to have to leave through the back door and hop the fence, praying no reporters were watching from that angle…. _ouch._

“Barry! Go left and jump in the Abbots’ pool! It might put Stein out just long enough to get him to the Lab.” Iris bellowed over the sound of all the smoke detectors in the house going off at once.

Going left meant hopping a much shorter fence, and if he stayed on that path, it would probably avoid the reporters altogether. A much better plan. Barry readied himself to grab Stein.

“Take Cisco first! That way you won’t have to make the trip a second time while burnt.” Joe added, taking over fire extinguisher duty. 

Right. Duh. Barry grabbed Cisco and took them both to S.T.A.R. Labs, dropping Cisco in the Cortex. He sped back and grabbed Stein, trying his best not to scream and inhale the super-heated air while his hands instantly blistered. The quick detour into the pool helped. Stein and Barry were both steaming as Barry deposited the poor professor in a cell, but they hadn’t re-caught yet.

Cisco activated the power dampeners and all three men were dismayed to see the fire continue to peek out of Stein’s skin. Not a full-fledged blaze like before, but the sight of the flames crawling along his hairline was still cause for alarm.

“It appears that while the dampeners can hold back some of my abilities, the power of the FIRESTORM matrix inside me can’t be fully contained.”

Still shaking off the pain in his poor, blistered-but-healing hands, Barry looked at Cisco in dismay. “What can we do?”

Cisco shook his head at the computer readings slowly. “I can re-engineer the stabilizer to buy us some time, but the only thing that’s going to keep Stein from going full meltdown mode is to merge with Ronnie.”

“I don’t want to interrupt Ronald’s honeymoon. He deserves to spend all the time in the world with Ms. Snow. It’s all he’s wanted for the past year. We have to figure out a way that I can release the energies without him.” Stein pleaded with the younger scientist.

“I don’t want to bug Ronnie and Caitlin either, Professor. But unless you merge soon, we’ll have another explosion coming out of S.T.A.R. Labs, and the result won’t be Metas, it’ll be a mushroom cloud!”

Barry and Cisco looked at each other helplessly. “Maybe – maybe I could go get Ronnie, and they could merge and then I’ll just take him back to Hawaii after an hour?” Barry tentatively offered.

“No, then he’ll know something’s wrong and the two of them will cut their vacation short.” Stein rubbed his temples, the flames not seeming to bother him. “You have to think of something else!”

“I don’t think there is anything else, Professor.” Barry turned to Cisco. “How quickly can you start on the Stabilizer? I’ll get a hold of Caitlin and find out where they are right now.”

But Cisco didn’t hear him, focused internally on the Stein’s plea. “Not something else. Someone else.”

“What?”

Cisco’s eyes, lit up, face taking on a whole new animation. “Someone else! We can find another Meta for Stein to merge with!”

“How?” Barry was dumbfounded. “I mean, Stein just can’t merge with whoever he wants. How are you going to find someone compatible?”

“Caitlin left me the codes to some of the Meta genetics databases she’s been creating. One focuses on identifying potential Metas by the police reports from the night of the explosion. A lot of entries even included medical records from victims that were sent to the hospital. If we look at the reports of the victims that showed the same symptoms of the gene rearrangement mutation, and cross-reference them with Stein’s blood and tissue types to see if we can find someone that will be enough of a match.” Cisco looked around the pipeline wildly. “I gotta get to a computer.”

Barry followed Cisco’s run to the Cortex, a slight headache building behind his eyes. He zipped around the room in anxiety, watching his friend type rapidly at the main computer, bringing a screen up to communicate with Stein during the process. Another monitor showed Caitlin’s database, names already scrolling down the screen, looking for matches. A third showed the levels of radiation inside the Pipeline that were slowly but worryingly creeping higher.

“Barry, can you grab Well’s wheelchair? I think I can scavenge the power source from it to make the Stabilizer hold back Stein for a day or two.” Cisco rolled his chair from one keyboard to another. “If we adjust the specs on the original stabilizer’s design to make it more discreet – say put the core mechanics in the handle of a cane so Stein has the excuse to be holding it in public all the time – we can take him to meet the candidates and see which one will receive the final rose.”

“An excellent idea, Mr. Ramon.” Stein called over the monitor. “Baring of course, that we have _any_ candidates, let alone multiple ones. Does Ms. Snow’s databases show any contenders?”

Caitlin’s database chose that moment to beep in success. Both Barry and Cisco jumped forwards eagerly. Two. There were two Metas out there that might be able to save Stein. “We have two possibilities. There’s a Henry Hewitt; a Hudson graduate with a double major in applied Physics and Bioengineering and Jefferson Jackson; a high school quarterback who is taking a year off before college to work as a mechanic.”

“I think Mr. Hewitt would be the best choice.” Stein said instantly, accompanied by a flare up of pain behind Barry’s left eye. “As a man of science, he’s more liable to be accepting of the results to his body from the particle accelerator blast and he’d bring a strong science support to the team.”

Barry blinked against the pain, the text on the computer monitor standing out unbelievably sharp. “Are you sure? Because Jefferson would probably give you better physical support as the Firestorm body and look,” Barry pointed to one of Caitlin’s detailed columns. “It shows that Jefferson has more alleles that match than Henry. Doesn’t that mean he would be more compatible?”

Cisco nodded, but Stein was unconvinced. “I think we need to consider more the synchronization between the two minds. I would have more in common with Mr. Hewitt, ergo it’s likely we would be able to achieve a better harmony when we merge.”

Barry’s headache pulsed at the second mention of Henry’s name, and receded every time he brought up Jefferson. It was beginning to worry him – it oddly reminded him of his blackout outside of Saints and Sinners and the aftermath. “I still think we should meet with both of them before we make a decision.”

“Oh definitely.” Cisco chimed in quickly. “We’re going to need tissue samples to check their genetic loci against Stein’s. That will probably cinch it.”

“Well there’s no harm in trying.” It was easy to see the way Stein was leaning - another scientist to appreciate his genius was more appealing than a mechanic with a hell of a throwing arm. But Barry couldn't shake the feeling that they were heading down the wrong route. Another scientist wasn’t what they needed right now. It was like what Leonard had said to him before Ferris Air; they needed more muscle, or at least someone willing to do what the team needed to be done, not just theorize about it.

But it was Stein’s call. They would talk to both men, and hopefully whoever was able to merge with him would be someone he could live with. That would keep them _all_ living.

Barry swallowed that depressing line of thought and went to get the wheelchair for Cisco. The faster the stabilizer was built, the faster they could go meet with some Metas.

# ⚡❄⚡

Barry ran to the station, horribly late from a Meta encounter. He’d had to give chase to a teenager with the ability to coat himself with a sticky, mucus-like substance that allowed him to shoplift and pickpocket with disturbing ease. The Flash suit gloves had wound up stuck to a downtown mailbox. The boots he’d abandoned in the middle of Infantino Street in order to escape a slime trap. Barry had left them behind with the trussed up Meta-Mugger and had had to call Eddie to take in both the perp and to retrieve his abandoned costume pieces once the mucus dissipated.

As gross as this delay had been, he had to admit that it had gone much better than his previous Meta battle. At least this time no one had tried to explode. Barry shivered, thinking of Henry's rapid devolvement. It was beyond tragic - if Stein had never tried merging with him his Meta DNA would have stayed dormant, and he never would have developed his unstable abilities. The added unknown issue of Henry's temper, triggered from the frustration and disappointment had turned him villainous in a ridiculously short amount of time. Really, Stein was lucky that Jefferson (or Jax, as he preferred to be called) had such a team spirit. It had probably helped with their compatibility and it had certainly helped Jax and Stein save all their bacons by overwhelming Henry. Captain Singh had given them special permission to keep Henry in the Pipeline with Wells/Thawne until the Iron Heights tech was completed, so at least Team Flash was no longer harbouring a secret Meta Guantanamo. Baby steps, but definitely in the right direction.

Barry slowed down to normal as he reached the door to the lab. Julian's constant complaints about the streaks of rubber on the lab floor ("Honestly Allen, what is wrong with your shoes?") had Barry trying to curb the use of his powers in the lab for both travelling and testing. (He still snuck it in to finish paperwork though. It kept Julian properly mystified.) As much as he looked forwards to the lab's tech increasing to keep up with the Meta evidence, Barry missed the days of working in the lab with no one spying on him.

Which hit the moment he stepped through the door. "You're late, Allen!"

Barry glanced up at the clock. Two minutes. "Sorry, I was talking to one of the detectives about a case."

Julian sneered. "Having coffee with your father doesn't count as working."

Barry's mouth tightened. "Actually I was on the phone with Detective Thawne. He's bringing us some samples from a Meta case the Flash just stopped."

The mention of Metas peaked Julian's interest. "Oh? Which Meta?"

Barry hung up his coat and walked over to the mountain of paperwork that was his desk. And with Eddie bringing him more, it was going to be a boring day. At least he'd be able to put the super sticky mucus through the Electron microscope. He'd have to remember to copy the results for Cisco, so they could make some kind of maximum strength goo-gone to counteract it. "A new one. Some kid that could get so sticky he was able to shoplift and pickpocket just by brushing against stuff."

The Meta Specialist's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Now that's something we'll have to look into. He’d be able to hold people hostage, or stop traffic if he ever escalated.”

Shuffling papers until he found a reasonable amount of desk space to put down his bag, Barry considered the theory. The kid really could only cover a surface the size of his hands with his slime. Bad for the Flash’s boots, not really enough to hold a whole car. Probably not even a person if they were determined enough and prepared to lose a layer of skin. But best not to keep agitating Julian. “We’ll have to run some tests to see if that’s even possible. But it can’t hurt to be prepared.” More file organizing and the corner of a brown paper wrapped package appeared. “What’s this?”

Another scowl crossed Julian’s face. “That came for you in the post first thing. You really shouldn’t have your personal mail sent to your work address, Allen. It’s not professional.”

Barry rolled his eyes. All of his personal mail went to Joe’s address. It was probably evidence he’d sent away for specialized testing. He dug around until he found a pair of scissors and slit open the tape. A blank white box with no labels or descriptive stickers didn’t help jog his memory of what it might be. Barry subtly reached for the Speedforce, if it was something _sensitive_ to Flash business, or a danger to police business, he could have it out the door in less than a heartbeat. Gingerly lifting the lid, Barry was prepared to find anything from junk mail, to overlooked evidence, to anthrax. He was wrong on all counts.

Nestled into the box was a large picture frame – one of those stylized ones where three smaller frames were attached together to make a family portrait. Inside each frame there was a newspaper article, and the contents made Barry’s eyes sting.

The frame on the right contained the article he’d seen in the Central City Picture News last week, with a large picture of his father and a headline proclaiming his innocence. The one on the left held an article with a picture of his mother – the headline’s topic about how Nora Allen’s real killer had been finally brought to justice. Barry didn’t recognize it from any local paper; he suspected it might have come from his mother’s hometown.  
And in the third – the third actually held an article about Barry.

It was much smaller than the other two – barely a headline and only half a dozen paragraphs in the body. The picture it held was of his university graduation headshot. A quick read revealed it was from the campus paper; it was a brief article about the dedicated work of an alumni (Barry) that had freed his wrongfully convicted father and gotten justice for his murdered mother. Hardly anything, but it completed the Allen Family Justice Tree perfectly.

Barry lifted the connected frames out reverently. A small business card came loose from the bottom and fluttered to the floor, where Julian swept it up faster than the Flash ever could.

His supervisor read the note quickly, harrumphed, and passed Barry his property. “I suppose that it _was_ good work, Allen.” Julian grudgingly nodded towards the articles. “Still, you should be striving for that type of success in cases to be your normal, not something to brag about and rest on your laurels for the rest of your career.”

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” Eye twitching, Barry accepted the card. Was there nothing the Julian considered an accomplishment?

He turned over the white piece of cardstock and nearly melted.

It was nothing, really. Three words in neat and orderly handwriting. But the initials after it…. well, _that_ made it something that Barry wished he had someone to brag to about it.

**__**

**_Nice work Barry._**  
_**L S**_

Leonard had taken God-knew-how-long tracking down all the different articles written in all the different districts that had taken interest (more than normal, because of the Meta-human angle) to make a gift for Barry that was a thousand times better than flowers. The man had class when it came to post-coital gifts. Extreme class.

Barry might have spent the whole day mooning over the little card but Eddie eventually dropped in, arms full of sample bags.

“I have some biological residue from our latest Meta for you, Albert.” Eddie piled a layer of plastic baggies all over Julian’s desk. “And Barry! I uh, have something for you too. From Joe. It’s uh, I think it’s your lunch.” He awkwardly tossed Barry a large brown paper bag that must have been holding his rescued costume. Barry bit the inside of his cheek. Eddie was almost as bad a liar as Barry himself was. But food was now forbidden in the lab, so if Barry even made a move to pull anything out of the bag, Julian would scold him, so it was actually a lie that they wouldn’t get caught in. He tucked the bag under his desk with the frame to take home and Leonard’s note into his shirt pocket for more covert admiration throughout the day. His fingers unconsciously traced the edges of the card. Now _that_ might get awkward if he was caught with it by someone who understood it.  
But….Leonard had obviously worked hard on it, and it would be rude of Barry not to show the gift the appreciation it deserved. It was worth the risk. He would have to find a way to track down the thief later to thank him. 

“Barry? You okay?”

Startled, Barry’s attention went back to Eddie, realizing that he was staring off into the distance with a dorky smile on his face. “I’m fine, Eddie. Thanks for bringing my lunch and all your hard work on the Meta-Mugger.”

Eddie broke into a grin. “No problem, man.”

Exasperated, Julian cut in to the conversation. “Don’t start naming them, Allen. It’s bad enough that all the S.T.A.R. Labs staff give these criminals celebrity statuses. We’re not going to do the same around here.”

Barry and Eddie rolled their eyes as one. “I’ve got to get back to the pen.” Eddie edged towards the door. “Joe is booking the suspect, but they might need more help getting him into one of the cells. He keeps dripping this crap everywhere. They don’t think he’s so dangerous that we need the Meta tech sped up to hold him, he’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Good luck.” Barry called after him, and turned back to his desk. It might be a good idea to spend the next few nights doing less rounds as the Flash and spending more time as Barry helping Cisco finish the Iron Heights Tech. The sooner they had safe (and legal) containment for the Metas, the better. The police could handle the common criminals for a few nights.

Barry briefly touched the card again. Of course, he’d still be on call if a Meta or an _uncommon_ criminal popped up. A shy spot of hope beat under Barry’s fingers. After all, some criminals just wouldn’t be satisfied with just the police – they’d cause havoc until the Flash made an appearance; his presence showed how important they were.  
And maybe Barry should start thinking of a gift of his own to underline that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly, no smut this chapter, but we needed to check in with the rest of Team Flash to keep the plot moving properly.
> 
> At least we end with a healthy dollop of the ol' Leonard Snart charm. ^_^ Because you know he'd be just as obsessive at choosing the perfect gift as he would be planning the perfect crime.


	7. Say Goodbye, Say Goodnight

Cisco was happy to have some super-speed help in assembling the heavy duty Meta dampeners. It gave him more time to work on a micro version of the system – he was planning to eventually have a wearable version – handcuffs for police to use on Meta criminals, and a discreet bracelet for law-abiding Metas who might not be able to control their powers otherwise. That was actually the most difficult request - the Iron Heights dampeners were almost complete, Cisco having solved the problem of the dampeners working open air yard time with angled reflectors that would be attached to the floodlights keeping the Meta blocking frequency waves bouncing back into the required area. It would probably be a nightmare for the guards to keep prisoners from throwing stuff at them, but it would keep anyone's legal rights from being violated.

Together, they made a lot of progress for the prison contract, and as a bonus made a few new potential tools for future Flash battles. Adding that the week seemed to be peppered more with regular human criminals, allowing for Barry to keep his crime solving to his actual working hours, Barry was starting to feel that a lot of his life was finally coming together.

Evening came, and the two of them called it a night, Barry heading home for dinner, Cisco home to an online Halo tournament. Barry sped back to the West house and just barely avoided smacking into Cecile, who was exiting from the front doorway. "Ms. Horton! Hi!" Barry nearly shrieked, hoping to distract her from noticing he'd appeared out of thin air. "How are you? Are you here to see Joe? Uh, will you be joining us for dinner?" He fumbled on the last one. After all, if Cecile was here to see Joe in any capacity, she wouldn't be wanting Barry to be the one issuing the dinner invite.

“Barry.” Cecile acknowledged him quietly, a little sadly even. “How are you?”

She hadn’t seen him speeding in, thank God. “I’m great.” Barry gave her a big smile. “It’s been a big change for everyone, but I think we’ve got a handle on being one giant, blended family.”

She gave him a strained smile back and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re happy. You have so much to be proud of, Barry. Don’t ever forget that.”

Barry felt a small niggle of concern in the back of his mind, but forced it down and continued to smile at Cecile. "I won't. Thanks for all your help Cecile.” She almost flinched at his gratitude, an oddity that didn’t ease the growing sense that his luck was coming due for a turn. He didn’t try to stop Cecile as she slipped past him and headed down the steps. He continued into the house, staying at normal speeds in case she looked back.

“Dad?” Barry called, dropping his CSI kit on the floor. “Joe?”

“In the dining room.” Joe’s voice floated across the house. “We have company.”

Good to know. Barry jogged at human speed down the hall to join them. Henry, Joe and Matthew Nelson, his father’s lawyer were sitting around the table, a plastic briefcase full of paperwork on its side between them.  
“Anything wrong?” Barry blurted out before he remembered to even try at social niceties. Cecile had left him feeling paranoid.

“Nothing’s wrong.” Henry had the same expression of false pleasantness that he’d worn every time Barry had visited him in prison. Every time he’d been trying to tell Barry _“I’m fine, don’t worry”_ when Barry knew damn well he was lying. Joe wouldn’t even meet Barry’s eyes.

Henry continued. “There was just some leftover paperwork to finish about the settlement for my false conviction. I’m receiving a little over five million dollars in compensation.”

Barry’s eyes bugged out. And here he’d been expecting bad news. “That’s fantastic! With that you’d be able to re-open the practice, get a car, we could buy a house.” His brain rambled on even faster than this superspeed. “This is wonderful, I was thinking we’d have to get an apartment downtown to start. I’ve been looking through the Classifieds..….”His mouth couldn’t keep up with all his ideas as he tried to keep from actually vibrating in excitement.

“Actually, Mr. Nelson has already helped me with that. The truck parked on the street in front of the house is mine, and he’s found me a fully furnished cabin up on St. Francois.”

“The mountains?” Barry looked at Henry with surprise. Henry hadn’t been that much of an outdoorsman back when his mother was alive. “Well….that’s further away than I thought you’d want to be, but that’s okay.” It didn’t really matter to him – with his speed, that kind of commute was a piece of cake. “When do you take possession?”

Joe made a strangled noise. “Matthew, you have some papers for Barry too, don’t you? The ones that give him ownership of S.T.A.R. Labs?”

The lawyer jumped on the change of subject like a grenade. “Yes! Yes, I do. Mr. Allen, the deed and all ownership papers are here. I just need your signature for proof you received them. S.T.A.R. Labs is now yours.”  
Barry scribbled his name on Nelson’s records and accepted the stack of papers in return. “Thank you.” He surreptitiously flipped through the pages, reading at superspeed. (Hopefully looking to their unknowing outsider that he was examining its thickness, which rivaled a lot of his college textbooks.) Between the property, the patents and outstanding projects, Henry wasn’t the only Allen that was now a millionaire. Barry now could worry a lot less about his daily food bills.

His mission fulfilled, Mr. Nelson couldn't leave fast enough. Joe showed him to the door, while Barry tried to remember how to breathe.

“Shiiiiiit. I guess it’s too late to talk you into a mansion by the ocean.” He joked, looking up at Henry with a grin. “I can totally go halfsies.”

Henry nodded slowly. “Everything has already gone through. I’m leaving tonight.”

Barry blinked. Talk about short notice. Good thing he could be packed in thirty seconds. And since Henry didn’t really have anything to pack….okay, it kinda made sense.

“Well, cool! I’ll get my stuff together. Is there enough room in the car, or should I plan on making a few trips back and forth? I think I have enough energy bars to do a few laps. I guess I should still keep Joe’s address as mine though, so no one at the precinct thinks I commute by helicopter every day.” Barry excitedly started to plan how he was going to move all his computer equipment without shorting everything to hell. That should definitely ride with his dad.

Henry interrupted Barry’s train of thought about the methods of transporting his valuables by dropping a bombshell. “Barry, you can’t come with me.”

“What?” Barry felt his whole body go numb, a shock that for once couldn’t be contributed to an encounter with Leonard. “What do you mean?”

Henry shook his head and gently took Barry by the shoulders. “Barry, you’re needed here. Do you really think you can be all that you are becoming if you stay with me?”

“I’ll only be a short run away.” Barry protested, dismay creeping through his body which was not a welcoming respite from the numbness. “You’re the only family I have left. Of course, I’m going to stay with you.”

“Now that’s not really true, is it?” Henry gently nodded towards Joe, who was trying to awkwardly give them privacy by hiding behind the doorframe. “You have a whole other family here, Barry. They need your help now more than I do. Central City doesn’t need you to be Henry Allen’s son, it needs you to be the Flash.” He smiled proudly, looking at Barry and then at Joe. “My kid, the superhero.”

“Please don’t go.” It came out of Barry as a whisper, his chest hurting so much that it was smothering. He’d finally found something that hurt him worse than his father being kept away from him against his will – his father very cheerily choosing to be away from him.

“When you need me, I will be there.” Henry rubbed Barry’s arms reassuringly. “But I can’t stay here, this just isn’t home anymore. I have to go find somewhere that will feel that way for me again. But you Barry, you do have a home here, with Joe and Iris and all of your team. You stay here and save lives. I have to go see if I can remember how to have a life.”

Barry swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. For years he’d dreamed about how his life would be once he had his father back. He hadn’t expected Henry’s dreams of the same time to be so different, but it wouldn’t be fair of him to try to stop them.

“If you’re leaving tonight, I guess we should get started on dinner.” Barry weakly attempted a smile and failed. “You’re going to want some leftovers to take with you, unless the cabin comes with a full fridge.”

Joe walked back into the room with his own version of a fake smile. “Now that sounds like a great idea. I was going to whip up a batch of Grandma Esther’s noodles. Barry, what you say you go get more hamburger out of the freezer and we make it a triple batch? That way we can feed all of us, all of your appetite and still have a bowl to send with Henry.”

“Sure.” Barry turned towards the kitchen and followed Joe mechanically. This was going to be the slowest and yet fastest dinner he’d ever have, superspeed or no.

# ⚡❄⚡

Barry stood in front of the Central City cemetery, watching his father’s new Pickup disappear around the corner. Henry had wanted to visit Nora’s grave before he left, so Barry had gone with, if only to spend as much time with him as he could. One parent underground fifty feet behind him, one heading away from him at fifty miles an hour.

How had his life gone so pear-shaped after so much hard work?

He felt Joe approach more than he heard him, it was like his whole body was one raw nerve. Joe had followed the two of them in his own car, not wanting to intrude on the depressing family reunion. He stopped just a foot behind Barry, ready to comfort him the moment Barry allowed it. Not the parent that Barry wanted, but certainly the one he needed right then.

“I’m sorry Bare.” Joe clapped a tentative hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now. But I think neither of us know how Henry feels either. I hope that with some time alone; some time he can take to let it sink in that he’s finally free, he’ll come back and stay awhile.” He squeezed Barry’s shoulder. “Let’s go home. I know there’s no noodles left, but we could order Thai food and watch the first three Star Wars movies with a few beers. The good first three ones.”

Normally, that would have been Barry’s ideal night in. Joe was trying to offer familiar pleasures as a security blanket for hurt feelings, but Barry just couldn’t take it. If he walked back into the West house tonight, not knowing when he’d see his father again, Joe attempting to be understanding….it would be too much like the night his mother was murdered.

And Barry wouldn’t redo that night for anything.

He stepped away from the only parent that was willing and able to stay with him. “Thanks, but I think I’ll go for a run instead. I need to clear my head.” Barry wouldn’t look Joe in the eye in case the sympathy in them broke him. He rubbed at his own eyes, hoping the heat building in them wasn’t already leaking out. “I’ll come home…” Barry’s voice trailed off. He didn’t know then he would get home. Oh, he wasn’t planning on up and leaving like his father, but all he really knew was that if he went home with Joe, his sanity would likely be the next to fly the coop. “I’ll be home late. But I’ll come home.”

Joe took his hand back and nodded slowly. “Okay, but if you need me, you just call. I don’t care when. I have paperwork to catch up on so I’ll be up late. Or wake me up whenever you need me. I have to be at the station early tomorrow anyways.”

All lies, but Barry loved him for them. “I will. I’ll see you later.” He put on a burst of speed and left before Joe could reply. He couldn’t take hearing another good-bye.

He ran in the opposite direction Henry had taken, so the temptation to follow the car and beg him to change his mind didn’t take over. He briefly considered heading to Starling City, but he didn’t think Oliver would be up to commiserating with him. Joe would probably call Iris the minute he got in the door, and Barry wasn’t sure he was up to commiserating with her and Eddie; too much happy was going on for them and Barry didn’t want to drag them down with him.

Where should he go if he didn’t want to make all his friends miserable too?

Barry really wasn’t surprised to find himself in front of Saints and Sinners when he finally ran out of breath. The last time he’d reached his lowest point, he’d appeared here as if by magic, and been gifted Leonard’s cleverness to ease his troubles. (And create entirely new ones.) Would this time be as productive? Barry guessed that even if it wasn’t, he could always spend money on alcohol that wouldn’t get him drunk, and get in a fight where he couldn’t use his powers. A good way to spend the evening – being miserable on a whole different level. At least it would take his mind off his dad.

Barry stepped through the door, (this time not bleeding) and this time a lot fewer people took notice. He didn’t blend perfectly, his jeans and hoodie being a little too on the clean side to match the most benign of the clientele, but it was busy enough that no one gave a crap. At least not yet. Maybe he’d be able to not get drunk on a few drinks before a biker tried to start something.

Or even more. After twisting the knife so deeply earlier in the evening, Fate must have decided that Barry deserved a break; he spotted Len at the middle pool table, casually making a break against the biker that had spotted Barry the first time he’d crawled in the door.

Barry hesitated, not sure if he should approach Leonard, or if maybe he should get a drink first, then try to catch Leonard’s eye and see if he would be welcome to approach. If Leonard was playing for money, he might not want Barry around. Hell, if he was doing _business_ Barry wouldn’t _want_ to be around, just so to have plausible deniability for any future heists.

And Fate at that point, didn’t give a shit either way. The eagle-eyed biker nodded to Len, and jerked his head in Barry’s direction.

Leonard looked up and Barry froze, not sure what the reaction was going to be. A slow smile spread across Len’s face, and Barry’s heart gave a speedster-like fluttering, but his body stayed perfectly still. Feeling oddly shy, Barry slowly made his way over.

“Your groupie got another problem, Snart?”

“No.” Leonard didn’t miss a beat. “My _contact_ is here give me info.” He took the biker’s pool cue with no resistance and passed it to Barry. “You’re up.”

Shooting the dismissed man an apologetic look, Barry accepted the stick and took a quick look at the green. “Am I solids or stripes?”

“Stripes.” Leonard watched as Barry lined up his shot. “You’d better not be here to ask me to help you rescue kittens out of trees.”

“No, I’m not here for business." Flustered, Barry missed and the turn passed back to Leonard, who was in no hurry to take it.

"Pleasure, then." Leonard mused, running a finger along the chipped wood of the table. "How lucky for me." He strode around the table to take aim, keeping his eyes on Barry. "I don't suppose you have something to tell me?"  
“I just wanted to see you.” Leonard’s smile widened, and Barry realized that he was burying the lede, and making it seem he was there to instigate another tryst. As Leonard bent to take his shot, he finally blurted, “My dad left tonight.”

Leonard scratched his shot, knocking the cue ball so hard, it went into the pocket with his target.

“Say what?”

Barry fished out the ball. “My dad’s left Central. He’s headed up to the mountains. His lawyer got him a cabin there."

Leonard blinked, and slowly sat on the edge of the table. "So should I take it that this is you coming to say goodbye?" His tone stayed neutral but his knuckles began to turn white around the cue stick. "Am I the start of the farewell tour, or the end?”

“He didn’t want me to go with him.” Barry could feel his lower lip tremble and he ducked quickly to take his turn. Missed again. “He told me to stay here with Joe and he left.” He let out a small laugh. “I’ve been trying to get my dad home for over a decade, and the moment I do, he leaves.” 

Leonard rested his own cue on his knee. “I see. So I’m guessing you didn’t just want to see me. Sounds like you need one hell of a drink.” He signaled to the waitress dropping off beers at a nearby booth. “What’s your poison?”

Barry sniffed surreptitiously, embarrassed. “It doesn’t work anymore. My super-metabolism doesn’t let alcohol have any effect before it flushes out the toxins from my body.”

Leonard snorted. “No. That would be too cruel.” His voice trailed off in thought, and he grew somber. “So alcohol doesn’t work. I assume drugs wouldn’t either?”

Barry shook his head. “No. But I wouldn’t do them anyways.”

Leonard was quiet. “Then painkillers don’t work either, do they?”

“No.” Puzzled, Barry leaned on his stick, waiting for the other man to take his turn. Why would Leonard be talking about – Barry’s head snapped up. “At least, none that we’ve found _yet_. Caitlin’s been working on different formulas. It’s no big deal.”

But it was a big deal. Barry could see that Leonard had made the connection – every time Barry was hurt, he had no relief. And his first few scrapes against Leonard had resulted in plenty of injuries. 

And it was no longer funny for Leonard to see Barry hurting. Barry could see it on Leonard’s face.

“Well, if you think there’s a chance you’ll find a drug that works, then there still might be a type of alcohol that will work too.” Leonard accepted the bottle of MacCutcheon Whiskey with two glasses from the waitress and poured two shots. “You’ve missed two so far, and I’m down one. Drink up so you can catch up and we’ll keep playing.”

Barry downed his shot in time with Leonard, and accepted the second one that was poured for him. “This isn’t going to work,” he warned. “I burn the ethanol off so fast it doesn’t reach my nervous system.”

“You never know.” Leonard smirked, and jumped up to take his turn. “I win, you chug a second bottle. You win,” his eyes took on a sly turn. “Well, maybe there’s another way I can make you feel something.”

Leonard proceeded to sink two shots before missing a third, passing the turn back to Barry. He downed his drink and stood behind Barry as the latter bent to take his aim. Just as Barry drew his arm back to strike the cue, Leonard dragged a finger down the cleft of his ass.

Barry jumped a mile, knocking the white ball up and completely off the table.

“My turn again.” Leonard purred, pouring Barry another drink. “I hope you’re thirsty, Scarlet.”

“Cheater.” Barry muttered good-naturedly, and Leonard flashed him another smile.

“And you wouldn’t want me any other way.” Leonard took aim and then missed himself. “Dammit.”

Barry laughed with genuine humor this time. “Drink up, you hustler.”

One game turned into “two out of three” which lasted late enough into the night that when Barry chugged his own bottle of the Whiskey to the glee of a very unsteady Leonard, it was nearly time for the bar to close.

“Let’s go home.” Leonard bumped into Barry’s side. “I have more booze there and we can keep playing,” a sly look came to his eyes. “ _Some_ type of game.”

“That sounds….” Barry trailed off as he watch Leonard wobble slightly while trying to stand still. Leonard was drunk. Or if not drunk, well on his way to being drunk. And sober Leonard might not want Barry knowing his address. “Actually, maybe you should come to my place instead. We’ll have to hide you in my room so Joe doesn’t see you, but you can sleep it off there.”

“Oh, I will do so much more than _sleep_ in your bed.” Leonard leered at him as Barry tried to escort him to a quiet part of the parking lot to speed him home.

Barry looked around furtively and scooped Leonard up bridal style. Leonard, taking this as a sign that his advances were most welcome, wrapped his arms around Barry’s neck and pressed a wet kiss to his cheek.

Barry zipped home with Leonard in his arms, depositing the older man on his bed and then taking a quick check around the house to see if Joe was still awake. 

All signs pointed to yes, and Barry found Joe anxiously not watching a late-night infomercial in the living room.

“I’m home.” Barry announced softly. Joe stood at attention immediately, gaze searching Barry intently, for injuries or indication of his mental state, Barry didn’t know.

“What did – are you okay?” Joe’s question changed, apparently deciding what Barry was up to or where he was doing it wasn’t as important as his presence now. “I mean, I know you’re not okay-okay, but you’re okay, right?”

“I will be.” Barry shuffled his feet awkwardly. He didn’t know if it was right to be begging his foster father for sympathy when he’d just snuck a wanted criminal into the house. “I tried to get drunk.” He sheepishly admitted the least of his current sins; Joe twitched, but said nothing. “It didn’t work, so I’m just going to go to bed.”

Joe looked pensive, like he didn’t quite believe Barry was actually so accepting of the situation. Instead of commenting on _that_ however – “I was talking to the Captain about a case and uh, I might have mentioned a few things. He shifted the schedule a bit, and you don’t have to be into the station until the afternoon.”

“Julian will love that.” The thought of his new supervisor throwing a tantrum at Singh brought a smile to Barry’s face. Joe sagged in relief at the sight that he probably thought he’d never see again.

“Julian can worry about his own cases for a little bit.” Joe smiled back, and grabbed Barry in a hug. “Now, go to bed. Even with the speed-force, you look pretty rough around the edges.”

Barry bid Joe goodnight, and escaped back upstairs to see what his light-fingered lover had gotten up to in his absence. There was no way that Leonard would have just curled up to sleep it off that quickly. Not when there was a whole new level of access to the Flash to snoop through.

Barry did a quick phase through the closed door to see if he could catch Leonard in the act. 

He did, but not that it produced any shame. Leonard had made himself very comfortable on Barry’s bed; leather jacket and shoes off. Barry’s cherished Spider-Man lunchbox open on his chest, all its treasures spread out on the lid for perusal. He looked up from reading the ‘Runaway Dinosaur’ with a smile, challenging Barry to scold him.

“I see you’ve made yourself at home.”

Leonard waved the book at him. “How can I not, when everything’s so comfy? Love the decorating scheme, by the way.” He pointed at his gift, hung above the bed, the first thing anyone who came into the room would see. “I see if not by word then by deed, you liked my gift.”

Barry had the grace to blush. “I was planning on thanking you for it. It must have taken you ages to find those articles. I wanted to do something nice for you too. I just – things kind of went to hell.” He fidgeted. “I do love it, thank you.”

Leonard brandished his card, which had been placed lovingly inside the lunchbox along with Barry’s book and all his Science Fair medals. “I knew you would.” He tenderly placed the little piece of cardstock between the pages as a bookmark, and moved both book and lunchbox to the nightstand. “And I’m going to give you something else that you’ll love even more.”

His hand shot out, grabbing Barry by the waistband and pulled the younger man onto bed beside him. “Now be a good boy and get naked. I’ve got something fun planned.” He plucked at the button on Barry’s jeans.

Barry was quick to catch both his hands. “I do love it when you do that, but we can’t. You’re drunk.”

Leonard snorted. “So? You know I would have blown you back at the bar if you’d asked, even if I was sober. A few shots don’t change anything.” He pulled his hands out of Barry’s and ran one down Barry’s thigh encouragingly. “Dick out now, Scarlet. I’m thinking we stick with just me sucking you off tonight. Keep the noise down.” He cocked his head, voice turning sly. “Unless of course, you wanted to try something new. Biting the pillow can be really exciting when you’re trying to be sneaky in your childhood bed.”

“No!” Barry was blushing furiously, trying not to think about how Leonard would have the knowledge of that particular experience. “If we do anything, then I'll have to wake up Joe and have him arrest me. You’re drunk, I’m not, and that makes it wrong.”

“Baaaaarrryyyyyyyyyyyy.” Leonard groaned, rolling onto his back, away from his target. “How am I going to make you feel better, if you don’t let me touch you?”

Barry propped himself up on one arm to look down at the exasperated thief. “Are you trying to comfort me with sex?”

“Yes.” Leonard scowled. “And you’re ruining it. I don’t do feelings and you can’t get drunk. I’m running out of options.”

A heat blossomed in Barry’s chest that had nothing to do with all the alcohol he’d drunk. “I don’t know. The fact that you want me to feel better, and that you’re telling me you want me to feel better, means you’re better with feelings than you think.”

Leonard snorted. “Dealing with the physical is more my forte, Scarlet. Let me work you up into blowing down my throat. It’ll take your mind off everything, I promise.”

Barry caught the fingers creeping up his inner thigh and intertwined them with his own. "How about we meet each other halfway?"

Leonard blinked at Barry confusedly, trying to reclaim his hand. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"We do something physical that's very nice for hurt feelings and lets you touch me a lot, but doesn't take advantage of you."

"I don't have the faintest idea what checks all those boxes," Leonard drawled. “Care to clue me in?”

Barry scooted on the bed until he was pressed up against Leonard's side. "You could snuggle with me until we fall asleep." He laughed softly at the doubt on Leonard's face. "Seriously. It would make me feel better to be held for a while. Even if you would just try it for five minutes. We could stop if you really aren’t into it."

Leonard seemed to roll that thought around. “You’re saying instead of having absolutely mind-blowing sex, you just want to cuddle.”

Barry wrapped an arm around Leonard’s waist, making himself comfortable. Leonard tensed for a second and then shrugged, for the first time ever conceding a battle to Barry. “Five minutes.” He cupped the back of Barry’s head and guided it down to rest on his own chest. “Then we’ll see.”

Barry rubbed his cheek against the soft material of Leonard’s turtleneck. Even if five minutes was all he got, he’d take it.

Nimble fingers combed through his hair, soothing him into settling against Len’s broad chest. “I haven’t done anything like this since Lisa was in kindergarten.”

Len sounded so amused. It brought a grin to Barry’s face. “I’ll bet you were a great big brother. You probably cuddled her non-stop and taught her how to tie her shoes and sat down for all her tea parties.”

“ _Excuse you,_ I taught Lisa how to pick locks and lift candy. And I have _never_ sat down for a tea party _in my life.”_

Barry giggled quietly into the other man’s pec. “So you had pretend bank heists with her then?”

Leonard was so quiet for a second that Barry thought he might have fallen asleep. Then the man underneath him began to shake; Barry craned his neck upwards to see if anything was wrong and found that Len was struggling not to laugh too.

“Yeah.” Leonard admitted and the two of them had to smother their laughter behind their hands before they woke Joe. “We may have had some pretend robberies.”  
“I knew it. You were a great big brother.”

“I’ve been taking care of Lisa since she was born.” Leonard stroked a hand down Barry’s back. “The first time I went to Juvie, as soon as I got out, I went and picked up Lisa and we all went down to Disney World.”

“All?”

“Mick came too.” Leonard’s voice got soft with nostalgia. “We stole a convertible and drove there.”

“I wouldn’t have thought Mick would want to go to Disney World.”

“He spent all his time in Epcot with the beer.” Leonard paused. “He drank all the way while I drove and Lisa sang songs from every Princess movie they’d ever made.” He hummed a bit. “I think my favourite part of the whole thing was the roadtrip.”

“Not Space Mountain?” Barry teased playfully.

“God no. Lisa had me ride that three times with her.” Leonard groaned. “And always after she’d eaten her weight in nachos. Seeing someone vomit that much really took the fun out of that ride really quick.”

“I’ll bet.” It suddenly occurred to Barry that Leonard probably didn’t empty a savings account to fund his trip. “How did you manage to get into the park and keep Lisa eating enough nachos to fill even my stomach?”

“Ooooohhhhh, it was so easy. Tourist pockets are the best pockets to pick.” Leonard’s voice actually grew dreamy as he played with Barry’s hair. “We made enough to stay in their stupid hotel for three weeks and I was able to buy Lisa one of every single Duck Tales toy in the stupid park. I even had enough when we got home to keep us fed until Mick and I lined up a decent heist.”

Barry could actually feel the pride radiating through Leonard. Oddly enough, he felt proud _for_ Leonard, despite all his five-finger discount shenanigans. “Then I should say that you’re not just a great big brother, you’re actually a great dad, too.”

“Hmp.” Leonard’s hand wandered down Barry’s back to squeeze at his left ass cheek, making Barry roll his eyes and smile. “I suppose I can take that as a compliment.” 

“It is a compliment!”

“I know.” The hand travelled back up to play with Barry’s hair. “And I hope you know, you’re a great son.” Leonard paused. “Your dad is an idiot for leaving you behind. I mean, I do understand why he felt the urge to get out of town. I’ve been there - been freshly released but not had room to breathe. But really, it’s a given that you should have been going with him.” Leonard starting massaging the back of Barry’s neck. “And just to be a jerk, I want you to know I’m really glad he didn’t and that you’re still here.”

“Would you miss me?”

“Maybe.” Leonard mumbled. “I mean, you do kind of brighten up the place.”

Something settled gently inside of Barry. It was so nice to feel wanted. And by someone who had shot him a month ago, no less. “You’re a great snuggler, Len.”

“I’m great at everything.” Leonard replied with confidence. “And in the morning, maybe I’ll prove it to you.”

“Dirty talk isn’t part of snuggling.”

“You love it.”

“Go to sleep, Len.”

“Goodnight little Flashasaurus.”

It was a miracle they didn’t wake Joe with their laughter. But then, Fate did kind of owe Barry a lot today, so he didn’t bother to question it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It doesn't get said enough: Joe-dad is best dad.
> 
> I've always been so frustrated that after all the years of hard work Barry put into winning Henry his freedom, his dad just gives him a high-five and then "goes out for cigarettes" and pretty much never comes back. So I thought he deserved a piece about people acknowledging that particular dick-punch and getting a little more sympathy about it. And if it helped him get to snuggle and share with Len, all the better. They both deserve nice things. ^_^


	8. Meta-orite

“Aloha!” Both Cisco and Barry hollered as Caitlin and Ronnie stepped into the Cortex for the first time in six weeks.

“Welcome back Mr. and Dr. Raymond.” Cisco’s smile was ear to ear as he bounded across the room to grab Caitlin in a bear hug that spun her off her feet. “Ah, Team Flash is back, baby! Watch out Central City’s scum and villainy, you’re going down.”

“I’m glad the two of you haven’t managed to burn the place down while we were away.” Ronnie clasped Barry’s hand with a grin. “Caitlin was sure that we’d come back to find that Martin had driven Cisco crazy, and that you’d be black and blue from fighting Metas with no one to take care of you.”

“Dr. Stein was great. He’s actually been off with Jax these last few weeks, working on their harmonization in Firestorm form. Did you get his message?”

Ronnie laughed. “I got two text messages that were a mix of all caps and what might have been hieroglyphs. Then Jax took over showed the Professor how to video chat. He seems like a good guy. The three of us are going to have a schedule for the merges.”

“He’s definitely Team Flash potential. And a great mechanic. I bet once he and Stein have got the merging down, they’ll both be in here keeping things running and keeping the city safe.”

“Speaking of keeping things ‘running’,” Ronnie grinned. “What’s the Thawne situation?”

“Iron Heights is Meta-ready as of tonight. Plan is that Thawne and Hewitt will be moved tomorrow afternoon under S.W.A.T. supervision, using a plan that sounds a lot like our first one.”

“Will we be on standby as S.T.A.R. Labs staff or as Team Flash?”

“I’m going to be behind the scenes as the Flash, and Jax and the Professor were planning to be nearby as Firestorm just in case.” Barry fidgeted. “I know it’s a lot to ask to be back at work so soon…..”

Ronnie shook his head, as Caitlin and Cisco joined the conversation circle. “Nothing is too much when it’s going to keep everyone safe.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Barry wrung his hands. “We could really use you both here. And Ronnie – I was wondering if you’d consider being the manager here at S.T.A.R. labs.” He looked at Cisco and Caitlin in turn, hoping they’d agree with his choice. “Now that Thawne is officially going to jail, and I own the building, there’s a vacuum of leadership for the day-to-day working of the lab. I don’t want to quit working at the CCPD, and both Cisco and Caitlin have so many projects….I mean, don’t get me wrong, you are a fantastic engineer….”

“But I spend most my time _working_ on the machinery, not creating it.” Ronnie nodded understandingly. “I can handle doing both the maintenance and the paperwork. Make sure the lights stay on and we stay running.”

“Thanks.” Barry’s relief was palpable throughout the room. “I was really scared you’d say no, and then we’d have to hire someone. I can’t imagine the NDA we’d have to create.”

“Well, I think now that the Reverse-Flash is officially someone else’s problem, that this team will be able to handle a little paperwork.” Caitlin reached into the large shopping bag she’d brought with her. “And we’ll all do it in style, too.” She pulled out a bright red Hawaiian shirt and passed it to Barry, then reached back in to offer a yellow one to Cisco. “Souvenirs for everybody!”

Barry accepted the shirt with a smile, and promised to deliver the shirts for Joe, Eddie, and Iris to the precinct. He also willingly submitted to Caitlin’s insistence that she check his vitals in case anything had fluctuated while she was gone. It was so nice to have something back to normal.

But new wasn’t necessarily bad either. Standing with Julian on the upper floor of the precinct, Barry watched as more members were introduced as part of the Anti-Meta-Human task force. Joe and Eddie would no longer be the only detectives on call for when Meta’s struck. Officers Vukuvich and Gibbons had been moved to the team; they’d be a great help. So had Detective Patterson, who had been partnered with a transfer from Midway City Police Department; Detective Patty Spivot. Barry worried about Patterson – the man was the definition of “Anti-Meta”. (Really, the task force should have just been the “Meta-Human Task Force”. Barry could already see the future racism claims against it.) Detective Spivot was the only unknown. He hadn’t had a chance to meet her or eavesdrop on her opinions about the Flash or any of the super-powered criminals she was going to be interacting with; and Barry thought he really should before he popped up in front of her as the Flash and asked her to Mirandize a carjacker.

But that was almost immediately remedied when Patty slid into the seat across from his at Jitters on his lunch break.

“Excuse me? Barry Allen?”

“Yeah?” Barry jumped a little in surprise. He hadn’t expected Detective Spivot to come looking for him. He had figured he’d have to wait until they’d had an actual Meta threat and he’d have an excuse to talk to her, CSI to Detective.

“Hi. I’m Patty. Patty Spivot.”

“Hey. You’re the new Detective on the task force, right?” The opportunity to talk Meta-shop was right there! How could Barry resist?

Patty was delighted to be recognised. “Yes! It’s so nice to meet you. I’m a huge fan.”

“Excuse me?” Barry’s heart kicked into overdrive. Holy shit, did she know he was the Flash? There was probably a good reason she’d been promoted to Detective so soon out of the Academy. He started cataloguing excuses to counter what she was going to say about –

“Your forensic reports. I read them sometimes.”

The completely unexpected. “Oh?”

Patty laughed brightly. “Who am I kidding? I’ve actually read them all. I read them all the time. They’re always so detailed. You know, they really paint a picture like you were somehow actually there when somebody was being brutally murdered.”

“Thank you?” Barry offered timidly. He hadn’t really thought of his reports circulating the office any further than the corresponding detectives and Captain Singh. “I try to make sure I put everything I can in them, just in case any of the small points prove to be useful later.”

“It so works.” Patty gushed. “That bit about the dead flower petals in the Murphy case totally confirmed the time of death.”

Barry brightened – finally someone who understood the science behind the minutia. “It did! I can’t believe Patterson missed it in the walkthrough.” He gestured to Patty. “You’ll have to be his extra set of eyes.”

“I am perfect for that. I took an extra credit in forensic science while I was in the Academy. I could lift a clear print in under thirty seconds.”

“Wow. You should have gone into CSI work.”

Patty blushed. “I love the science, but out in the field, that’s where all the action is. I really want to catch criminals and make a difference, you know? I just try to add the science in where I can, like when I’m writing my reports.” She gestured to the bag at her side. “I’ve always been under the impression that Captains always appreciate you going the extra mile.” Patty hesitated for a second and then continued. “I want to make sure I get off on the right foot with Captain Singh. Maybe you could write it with me and see if I’m touching on what he feels is most important?”

Lunch was almost over. Barry would have to leave in five minutes to get back to the precinct at normal speed. “Sure. I mean, uh, I can’t right now, but I’d be happy to give you some notes later.” Patty brightened like a star, and Barry couldn’t help but grin back.

“That would be awesome. I’ll just have, you know, my people call your people.”

Barry laughed, then stopped short, worried that she’d actually call him at his desk, and Julian would strangle him with the phone cord for taking a “personal” call.

“You know, sometimes when you call through dispatch, it gets all jammed up and as law enforcement colleagues – efficiency is important…so, um –“

“That’s exactly what I was thinking too.” Patty jumped in. “And you know, I should probably give you my number anyways, in case you ever had questions for me about a case. Give me your phone.”

Dumbfounded, Barry handed over his cell, and Patty inputted her number. “There!” Now you can call me when you have some free time. Don’t worry if it looks like it’s getting late, I can meet up after work if that’s what works for you. We could grab dinner.”

Barry realized that for that he had in Flash abilities, his flirting radar was not up to speed. “Um, not to be forward, but are you asking me out on a date?”

“What? No! No, this is just a meeting between colleagues!” Patty hesitated, and then her tone turned shy. “Unless you’d like it to be a date?”

Barry’s heart gave a little jump. Patty was really smart and undeniably lovely – why was she asking him out? Women like Patty never asked him out. Hell, until Leonard, men like that never asked him out either-

_Leonard._

Barry pulled back slowly. When Leonard had left the West house the morning after their drinking/cuddling/semi-therapy session, Barry had been given a hell of a goodbye kiss. But he hadn’t heard from the man since; not even as his villainous counterpart. Barry was hoping to chalk it up to embarrassment at being so drunk and vulnerable, but he really didn’t know Len well enough to gauge that. “Honestly, normally I would say yes so fast, you wouldn’t have finished that sentence. But I’m in a really, really weird situation with someone else right now, and it wouldn’t be fair to you or to him for me to do that. Not until I figure out if I’m actually already in a relationship.”

Patty bit her lip, looking disappointed. Barry felt a little bad, because Patty did seem a lot like someone he would be happy spending time with. But then she gave a small smile, and quirked an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t know?”

He gave an embarrassed laugh. “No, I actually don’t. We’ve spent some time together, but it’s not like we’ve gone on any actual dates. I might be more of a booty call than a boyfriend.”

Patty smothered a giggle. “Is being the former as good as being the latter in his case?”

“It’s pretty damn good.” Barry admitted with a blush, making Patty giggle and lean in, subtly asking for details. It was so nice to have someone to gossip with that wouldn’t judge. “I mean, I’m definitely more of a relationship guy over a friends-with-benefits thing, but he’s just so freakin’ good at…… benefits-ing.” Barry finished lamely, suddenly recognising that Len might not appreciate him giving too many details to a stranger. “Anyways, I’m really sorry, because um, I mean you are like, _perfect,_ but I just don’t know what’s going on right now.”

Patty blushed at the compliment. “Well, if you do figure things out, you have my number. And you can call me either way. I can help you land a boyfriend while you help me with my reports.” She smiled bashfully at Barry, and then left with her coffee in hand.

Barry took his cell phone back with a smile. At least there were no hard feelings. Perhaps Patty was going to be an ally on the Task Force for him and for Team Flash after all. He idly scrolled through his contacts, looking at the new entry and how it had moved his other contacts up or down. At least he’d set up Joe and Iris with numbers precluding their names so they’d always be at the top for emergencies.

Though oddly enough, they were now in the second and third spots. Barry frowned. That couldn’t be from Patty’s addition. He scrolled up to the top line to see that spot number one was now filled by a snowflake emoji.  
_No way._

Without a second thought, Barry sent out a text.

⚡When did you get your hands on my phone?⚡

It wasn’t even a full minute before Leonard replied.

❄Two days ago.  
You’re super groggy in the morning when you order your coffee, did you know that?  
I got into line right behind you and you didn’t notice.❄

⚡Any other breaches of privacy I should know about?⚡

❄Well, you paid for my coffee that morning.  
It was very nice of you, since it was my birthday.❄

Well _shit._ Barry did some quick math. If Leonard was telling the truth, his birthday was June 2nd. He could check Leonard’s criminal record to confirm, but if it actually was true, then he was already failing at being a boyfriend.

⚡I’m sorry I missed your birthday.⚡

❄You didn’t miss it, you just didn’t know I was celebrating it.  
Big difference.❄

⚡But if I’d known, I would have done something for you.⚡

❄Well if it’s any consolation, you were wearing really tight jeans that day.  
That did something nice for me later.❄

⚡Ha ha.  
Why don’t I treat you to a movie tomorrow as an actual birthday gift?⚡

Barry’s fingers speed texted the offer before his brain considered the possible responses. Sure, he wanted to date Leonard. Every word to Patty had been the truth. But he really didn’t know if Leonard had anything remotely close to the same feelings. It could be Leonard was just enjoying the sex and when the novelty wore off, he’d move on.

_Please don’t let it be that._

If that was the case, Barry trying to move things forward when it wasn’t what Leonard wanted would likely end things a hell of a lot faster. And Barry didn’t want that either. He’d prefer a relationship, but at this point he would also really miss the great sex. 

How nice to have such a mess of contradictions inside one’s self.

A speedster’s eternity (roughly forty seconds) and Leonard replied.

❄Sure.   


What movie were you thinking of?❄

Holy shit, he’d said yes.

⚡I guess it’s in poor taste to suggest a superhero movie.  
How about the new dinosaur one?⚡

❄I could see that one.  
I’m sure at least one person will get eaten.❄

⚡Do you want popcorn while you wait for dismemberments by dino?⚡

❄Yes. Junior Mints too.❄

Barry laughed quietly, and the two of them made plans to meet at the theatre. Little shocks of excitement were running up and down his spine. Okay, maybe one date did not a relationship make, but it was a step in the right direction. Heck, the way the two of them had met, this might actually count as ten steps.

His phone dinged one last time.

❄PS, everybody likes superhero movies.  
Sometimes they die.  
I’ll pay for that one next week.  
See you at 9.❄

Barry had to clamp a hand over his mouth before he squeed out loud. Leonard was already planning on a second date! Or maybe he was counting previous encounters, and it would be their fifth! Either way, Barry was absolutely winning.

His phone timer gave a chirp. Lunch was over. He now had no minutes left to get to work on time. Barry gave a cautionary look around to see if anyone was watching him and then took off in a flash to the Precinct. Julian was going to be so pissed.

And it was so, totally going to be worth it.

# ⚡❄⚡

As the Flash, Barry ran laps around the convoy carrying Thawne and Hewitt towards Iron Heights. He could see Jax and the Professor as Firestorm in the air above, following the same route. (Only a little slower.) The transfer of Thawne from S.T.A.R. Labs to the paddy wagon (freshly outfitted with the new and improved travelling Meta Dampeners) had gone off with without a hitch, likely because Cisco had flooded his cell beforehand with so much knock-out gas that they’d had to send Catlin (and two armed officers) into the cell in gas masks to check his pulse.

So far so good. There had been no sign of activity from Thawne, not even a demand to see Barry once he regained consciousness after being strapped Hannibal Lector style into the truck. They were halfway to their destination with no problems in sight.

In sight being a key word.

“Barry, we’ve got an alarm going off at the Central City Museum. Satellite ping shows it’s a Meta.”

He skidded to a stop somewhere between the stadium and the hospital. “Are you sure it’s a Meta? Can the police handle it?”

“Uh, _no._ They’re all busy giving Thawne the Presidential Motorcade escort, just like you are. You’re the only one that can turn around and get to the museum on time.”

"Dammit." A sense of foreboding percolated in Barry's stomach. "Maybe we should just let this one go?"

"Dude, we got this." Jax's voice floated over the comms. "Thawne's speedster butt is going nowhere but prison. You can forget about him. Go take care of our city."

Barry took a deep breath and doubled back towards the Museum. Cisco and Jax were right. Thawne wasn’t the priority anymore.

He easily dodged the throngs of customers fleeing the museum, using their path to pinpoint where the alarms were signalling that shit had hit the fan.

Barry skidded to a stop in front of a display of cosmic debris that was on loan from the Starling City Museum. The glass was spread across the floor like pebbled diamonds. If Barry didn’t know any better, he would have said the cases had burst. Everything appeared to be undisturbed, minus one piece.

Hartley stood behind the counter, staring down rapturously at the famous Singing Meteorite cradled in both gauntleted palms. The look on his face was actually a little creepy. He didn’t appear to have noticed the appearance of the Flash. Or the fact that the alarms had been blaring for at least three minutes after he should have started to vacate the crime scene. He was just so engrossed in the chunk of stone in his hands. It made Barry hesitate to engage.

“Hartley?” There was no response from the enthralled Piper. Barry took a slow step forwards. “Are you all right?”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Hartley whispered in awe, completely ignoring the question. “It’s absolutely wasted behind glass.”

“You know, there are a lot sparklier rocks down at the beach, and they’re all free.” Barry edged towards the distracted man. “Why don’t you put that down, and I’ll take you to go get some.” Hartley and his pet rock were seriously starting to give Barry the creeps. 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Some of Hartley’s natural vitriol emerged and it actually made Barry feel relieved to hear it. “I’m not talking about how it looks, I’m talking about its _song._ ”

Barry crooked an eyebrow so hard, he had to move his mask back properly on his face. The Singing Meteorite was named for the wavelengths its core materials produced when viewed under a spectrometer. Apparently they could be overlapped to show the chorus score for "Singing in the Rain" if you put them in the right order. It did _not_ produce its own sounds. "Uh, Hartley? Are you feeling okay?"

Ignoring Barry again, Hartley began gently rocking back and forth to the imaginary melody. It moved the creepy feeling into the territory of ‘concerned’. Maybe Hartley wasn’t pulling a robbery. Maybe he’d had a nervous breakdown or something.

“Barry, I think something’s wrong with Hartley.” Caitlin’s voice came over the comms. “What is he doing?”

“Ummmm…..dancing?” Barry was taken aback at Hartley’s utter lack of concern at his presence. “Has he ever acted like this before?"

“No.” Caitlin sounded worried, which fed into Barry’s unease. She, Ronnie and Cisco might hate Hartley, but at least with the history the four of them shared, she’d have a good idea if Hartley’s brain had flipped a switch. “I think you should bring him back to the Lab so I can run a few tests. Joe or Eddie can come get him later if everything’s okay.” 

“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Barry could hear Cisco start to protest in the background, but brought his attention back to the Meta at hand. “Hey, Hartley? I think it’s time you and the meteorite brought the concert down to S.T.A.R. Labs. Maybe turn it into a lullaby and get some rest. How does that sound?”

Hartley roused briefly to meet Barry’s eyes. “Oh, there is so much we have to do before we can rest.”

“We?”

The super-hearing Meta-human gave Barry an enigmatic smile. “We’ll be seeing you, Flash.”

Barry closed his eyes to avoid the retina-searing burst of light that Hartley fired and darted forward, intending to grab Hartley with his eyes closed. He figured since he could reach the other man faster than Hartley could run away, and that could remember how the room was laid out he’d have no problem.

Only apparently he didn’t know how the room was laid out because he smashed into a wall at what must have been ninety miles an hour. Barry wasn’t given the gift of falling unconscious; he lay on the floor worse than stunned; watching, hurting, definitely bleeding, as Hartley waltzed out the door towards the front exit.

It took Barry a few minutes to regain his senses. He felt the bones in his face re-arranging and figured in addition to his nose, he might have cracked an eyesocket. He was going to have to have Caitlin take a look at it to make sure it all healed properly. It wouldn’t do to show up for his date that night looking like a raccoon.

“Barry, Barry are you all right?” Cisco was yelling in his ear. “Police are on their way if you need back up. Barry can you hear me?”

Wincing, Barry touched the comm at his ear. “I’m here. I think I screwed up. I closed my eyes to avoid a flash bomb and I think I ran into a wall.”

“It was the shimmery air.” A little voice popped up by Barry’s elbow, making him jump. Barry looked over to see a young boy, probably about seven years old, leaning out from behind the stand for a copy of the Mars Sojourner probe. Apparently Barry hadn’t scouted the room as nearly as well as he thought he had. The little boy continued. “When you started to zoom at the robber you got stopped in the air with a ‘boom’!” He clapped his hands to emphasize the impact Barry must have made. “And the air got all rainbow shimmery around you and you fell down.” He gave Barry a giant grin and held out a hand. “Don’t worry. I found your tooth!”

Sure enough there was a small white chiclet in the boy’s palm that corresponded to a hole in Barry’s mouth that he was horrified to discover with his tongue. He’d rather go to his date with the mother of all black eyes than with a hole in face.

“Well, thank you.” Barry swallowed the curse that he’d rather utter and smiled at his young audience. “I guess I missed that the robber had a forcefield. I’ll have to do better next time.”

“You will.” The boy replied with a faith absolute and held out his hand again. “Can you help me find my dad?”

“Sure.” Barry took the proffered hand in his own, and stood, wobbling only slightly. If he did have a concussion, it was starting to fade. He was going to have to chow down on one of Cisco’s calorie bars really soon. But he had enough time to make sure his fan got home safely. “What’s your name?”

His name turned out to be Logan, and he was actually eight years old. His favourite colour was green, he had one older sister and two baby brothers, his best friend was named Megan, he loved outer space and he was going to be a firefighter when he grew up. Barry learned all of this as they headed towards the front of the museum where Logan’s father could be heard running around the Cro-Magnon Man exhibit screaming Logan’s name. 

After he reunited father and son, signed Logan’s rocket, spoke to the museum curator, gave a statement to a CCPD officer, and then signed a few dozen more autographs, Barry headed back to S.T.A.R. Labs, already growing in a new tooth. Caitlin still made him have a CT scan, just in case. 

He spent the time in the claustrophobic tube being reassured by both Joe and Jax that Thawne had been transferred flawlessly into the new Iron Heights Meta Wing with nary a toe out of place by him, the police, the guards or Firestorm. 

Good news there and more, when the scan came out clear and he had a brand new tooth filling the hole in his mouth. And the cherry on top was a bountiful thirty minutes to spare before his date. Barry made his excuses to the team, and zipped home to shower and agonize about what to wear. He must have changed into a dozen times, requiring a second shower from all the speeding about.

Barry knew he was being slightly ridiculous – it was only a movie, after all, not a black tie affair. Len wouldn’t be expecting him in a suit. But he wanted to look nice – so far Len had only seen him in sweats or the Flash suit. It wouldn’t hurt to try to show off a little. Help the chances of that second date.

But there he was at the theatre, six whole minutes early for once, dressed in his best jeans, and a dark charcoal dress shirt. He’d also put on a black tie that he’d waffled back and forth about – it was a little more than casual, but it really looked nice with the shirt.

Searching the parking lot, he spotted a motorcycle complete with sidecar in the back left corner. Barry rolled his eyes at Leonard’s need for any type of attention, and walked at normal speed over to the machine.

The man himself was leaning against it, looking like all of Barry’s wet dreams in the flesh, dressed in a navy blue dress shirt and a suit jacket so tailored to form and soft looking that Barry would have loved to help peel it off of him.

Leonard held out his arms with a smirk. “You like? I remembered our little talk. Though I figured the full suit might be a bit much, so I downgraded. Glad I did, I’d hate to not match.”

“You look fantastic.” Barry offered a hand, and then dropped it, blushing. He didn’t know how Len felt about a little PDA. “Would you like to go inside?”

Leonard stood and caught Barry’s retracted arm, linking it in his. “Let’s. You promised to buy me Mints, remember?” 

Barry leaned into Leonard’s side, feeling wonderfully giddy. “I did. You’re going to have to help me carry everything though. I eat a lot of popcorn.”

“I’m sure I can lower myself to be your snack pack-mule this once.” Leonard replied easily as Barry showed the kid at the entrance the tickets on his phone. “I hope we’re sitting in the back. After the snacks are finished and the dinosaurs get low on people to eat, I’m going to want to make out.”

“Yes, that was all part of my master plan.” Barry dryly replied. “And I had the benefit of being able to buy our tickets while all the teenagers were still in class and couldn’t snap them up. We’re at the back row, in the middle for best view.”

“That’s my genius.” The two of them collected enough popcorn to feed a football team and two drink cups that they could have used as bailing buckets. “Oh, and I feel I should add that if you get a call from work to go in, I’ll understand, but I do expect you to come back when the city is safe once more and give me a goodnight kiss.”

“Absolutely.” Barry gave Leonard a cheeky grin. “But if you’re here with me now, I think that means the city is safe for the night.” 

"Presumably." Leonard agreed and then quirked a brow. "Though I have no idea where Mick and Lisa are." It made Barry chuckle.

"I'll consider that a warning then." 

"More like a friendly note on my partner's unpredictability." Leonard passed Barry one of the full cups with a smirk.

They entered the theatre just as the movie started and Leonard scared away the kids trying to steal their prime seating real estate with one look. The two men dug in to the popcorn as the dinosaurs wasted no time turning the minor actors into happy meals.

“Okay, so one main character always get it.” Leonard nudged Barry, who laughing tried to shush him. “Which one is your pick? I think the one that couldn’t be bothered to switch out her _high heels_ for literally anything else is going to be the main death.”

“You’re terrible.” Barry scolded, stealing Len’s Junior Mints with his speed. “They won’t kill off the kids because they’re kids and the adults will stay alive to make the sequel. Now be quiet and eat your candy.”

He popped a mint into his mouth and held it between his teeth, offering it silently to Leonard with a raise of his eyebrows. The thief took the bait, leaning over to catch Barry’s lips with his, and use a clever swipe of his tongue to steal the mint and tease Barry with the smooth glide against his own. Leonard leaned back in his seat with eyes gleaming with dark joy. The box of mints was back in his hands too; Barry hadn’t even felt him lift it.  
What Barry felt later, however, was the warm grip of Leonard’s hand sliding along his thigh. He pinned the hand before things could get too out of hand at a PG-13 movie, but intertwined the fingers with his own, rubbing Leonard’s palm with his thumb soothingly to prevent hurt feelings. Leonard allowed it, and the two of them spent the rest of the movie trading kisses and candies and the odd squeeze of hand (or other). It might have been a lot tamer than their last encounters, but Barry enjoyed it no less.

When all the dinosaurs had been eaten and/or released into the wild, the two of them strolled leisurely back to Leonard’s motorcycle, Leonard poking fun at Barry’s enthusiasm at to tell Cisco about building the new vehicles in the movie – Barry was sure they could recreate something similar in S.T.A.R. Labs. He couldn’t think of a specific reason why they might need it, but he’d really like to try it.

“I, uh, had a really good time tonight.” Barry shyly dithered as they reached the bike. Now what should he do? Would they end the evening at just a goodnight kiss? Or should he invite Leonard back to Joe’s house for coffee? Offer to get a hotel room? They’d started with a very forward dynamic in this relationship and Barry wasn’t sure if he should finish the date with what was normal, or what was normal for them. 

The choice was taken out of his hands – Leonard continued the moment by taking out his phone and shooting off a quick text. Barry felt his own phone notify him of a text received. “That’s for just in case,” Leonard nonchalantly waved a hand. “You know. If what happened last time ever happens again.”

Barry surreptitiously glanced at his phone. Leonard had sent him an address on the outskirts of Central City. “What’s this?”

“It’s a safehouse of sorts. I don’t do any business there, but I do stay there on occasion. The most important part is that Mick or Lisa would never be when I’m not. So if you were to say, need to drop me off, or go looking for me, you wouldn’t run into any surprises if you were alone.”

A speedster heartbeat passed and then Barry understood. “You’re giving me your address? Like, your actual living-in-a-building address?” A quick thrill shot through him. Len trusted him enough to give him a vague idea of where he lived. That was definitely a step forward in their unusual courtship.

Leonard held up a finger to try to pause Barry’s excitement. “I’m giving you _an_ address that I _sometimes_ live at. It’s not a permanent situation. It’s always best to text me first and see if I’m there before popping by.”

“I can do that.” Barry vibrated at little and bounced so hard on the balls of his feet that he nearly rocked into Len. “I mean, there’s no reason that I would come over if I wasn’t invited. Not as myself and not as, _you know,_ because I promised that I wouldn’t interfere if you didn’t put anyone in dange-“

Leonard rolled his eyes, and grabbed Barry by his tie, pulling him into a shut-the-hell-up, take-your-breath-away, knock-your-socks-off goodnight kiss. Barry gasped against Leonard’s mouth and melted into the older man.

When he was finally and reluctantly released, Barry was weak enough in the knees that he could barely stand, let alone rock back away from Len. “I, uh, I don’t suppose you’d like to give me a tour of your new address right now?”

Leonard tisked, and gave Barry a smirk. “Now, now, Scarlet. I’m not so easy that I’ll put out on a first date. You’ll have to work for it.” He reached down to give Barry’s ass a squeeze. “Not hard, mind you, but still, tonight’s not the night.”

“I think it’s plenty hard,” Barry breathlessly ground against Leonard making him laugh. Barry leaned in to steal another kiss. “But I can wait. I meant it when I said I had fun tonight.”

“I know you did. And when it is the night, I am going to change the definition of a fun night for you _forever.”_

Barry blushed as Leonard climbed on his motorcycle with a cocky grin. The worst thing was, the cheeky bastard was probably right.

Leonard clipped on his helmet and revved the engine. “By the way, I feel I should point out that this counted as positive reinforcement to stealing your wallet. I've already decided I should see where you'll take me to if I steal your watch."

"So you're saying you had fun too," Barry teased back. Leonard pretended to consider it.

“I suppose I am. I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Barry watched Leonard peel out of the parking lot with a goofy grin. He didn’t know whether Leonard was alluding to a second date or an upcoming heist, but either way, it was going to be so much fun.

# ⚡❄⚡

“Uh, sorry Detective Thawne, but these are for you.” Barry dropped the load of binders he’d carted from home to his desk, to his locker after Julian complained, and then finally down the stairs to their rightful co-owner.

Eddie’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Don't tell me that's all for the Meta-Mugger." 

Barry laughed ruefully. "No, these are actually the first batch from Iris. She wanted me to look over some of the wedding ideas she collected as a kid and take out the stuff that was too dated or impossible before you saw them. I'm supposed to give them to you so she can get your thoughts."

"First batch?" Eddie blurted out, seemingly horrified. "How many of these could there be? We only got engaged a month ago."

"Iris has been thinking about her perfect wedding since Brittney Spears married two guys in the same year." Barry informed the concerned groom-to-be. "She used to have me help her cut pictures out of magazines to make vision boards of what the big day was going to look like."

Dumbfounded, Eddie turned to Patty who was sitting two desks over. “Is that normal? I mean, is that something all woman do?”

"Oh, like men never think about what the big day will be like." Patty scoffed, closing the folder she'd been perusing through. "The idea that the man does nothing but show up at the altar in a suit with a giant hangover on the day has got to be one of television’s biggest lies.” She turned to Barry. “You must’ve dreamed up a little of how you would want to be married.”

Barry started to reply and then snapped his mouth shut as the blush started heating his cheeks. The answer was yes, but in all of those plans and dreams, Iris had been the one standing beside him, and that would be a pretty tasteless say anything in front of both Eddie and Patty.

But Patty settled for the proof of Barry’s darkening complexion merely meaning that she was right. “See?” She triumphantly nodded towards Eddie. “You had better start creating _some_ opinions about your wedding, because I can guarantee Iris will not be pleased if she has to think up, organize, and then do everything.”

Eddie ruefully played with the cover on the top binder. “I’m fine with helping her plan a wedding. This looks like she wants to plan to invade Russia.”

Barry left Eddie contemplating his paperwork tower of matrimony and wandered by Patty, who gave him a wink.

“So, I don’t suppose your imaginary wedding included the booty-calling maybe boyfriend?”

“I think it’s a little early for that, but my maybe boyfriend went out with me on an actual date last night, not a booty call and talked about another one next week.” Barry beamed at her. “So I think if we keep it up, I might get to start calling him my real boyfriend.”

“Good for you.” Patty raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean the booty calling stops until the third real boyfriends date?”

“Uh, well, we haven’t really ruled those out.” Barry cringed a little saying it out loud. “I mean, we’re adding time, not taking anything away.”

“You dog, you.” Patty gently punched his arm. Barry dodged away, laughing.

The two of them chuckled until Joe rounded the corner, hands full of file folders.

“Barry! Good that you’re here. Thawne, Spivot, we’ve got over a dozen missing people all over Central City.” Joe split the pile he was holding. “Thawne, you and CSI Albert are coming with me; Spivot, you and Patterson take Barry to these addresses,” he handed four of the files to Patty. “And Barry – when you’re done, join Vukuvich and Gibbons at their addresses and process those scenes as well.”

“Shouldn’t Julian do some of those?”

Joe gave him a side-eye. “Julian also has to take care of a break in at Central Electronics. And since it’s documented that over half of these people just got up and walked away like zombies, this means it’s a Meta case and it’s important to get these scenes processed before we have another batch of people that get pied pipered away. Get moving.”

“Hartley.” The name jumped from Barry’s subconscious to his lips before he remembered that he was too close to Patty to speak freely of Flash business. “I-uh, wasn’t there a police report that the Flash tangled with the Metahuman ‘Piper’ yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Joe and Eddie exchanged a quick glance with each other, Patty looking on interestedly. “Do you think the disappearances are related?” Joe sounded puzzled, not seeing any overlap in the incidents. “Is Rathaway doing something to these people to make them disappear?”

“I don’t know.” Barry admitted. “But is it okay if I alert S.T.A.R. Labs? I think they should take a look at things too.”

Joe rubbed a hand across his forehead. “Send them the names quickly, and then go with Spivot and Patterson. Even if Rathaway is involved, we still need to gather any evidence that might have been left behind.”  
So Barry shot off a quick email to Cisco, and by the time he had failed to find any evidence (pharmaceutical or electronic) that explained why a victim had done a zombie-walk out of their house for the third time, he got a reply.

Jamming his cellphone between his ear and his shoulder while he fruitlessly dusted for prints, Barry welcomed the reprieve. “Did you find anything, Cisco?”

“Dude, your Sherlock moment was totally correct. I was looking at the security footage of the electronics robberies, and Hartley was definitely the one cleaning them out. He’s doing that same dead-eyed stare he was giving you at the Museum.”

That struck an odd chord with Barry. “You saw him on the footage? Why didn’t he scrub it?” Hartley was just as skilled at computers as Cisco. He could have set things up so he would have left no electronic trace at all.

“I don’t know.” Cisco sounded as troubled as Barry felt. “Maybe whatever brain pieces got sucked out contained his self-preservation instinct.”

One mystery (sort of) solved, a dozen to go. “Any connection for the missing?”

“Well, from the footage we were able to find on a few of them, they really did just get up and go. Looked as out of it as Hartley.”

A scuffle sounded on the other end of the phone and then Caitlin’s voice cut in. “Barry, Ronnie and I cross-referenced all the victims to see what they might have in common. Turns out they all have high-end Mercury brand hearing aids.” She paused. “The same as the ones that Hartley has.”

And now all mysteries turned into one. “So maybe Hartley isn’t the bad guy here.” Barry paused. “Or at least not the bad guy in charge.”

“Maybe not.” Caitlin was cautious. “But even if he’s another victim, if he’s being controlled by someone, he’s still a dangerous one.”

“Can Cisco do a sweep for Hartley’s tech?” Barry stopped processing the scene and risked drawing the attention of Patty and Patterson who were still questioning the missing man’s wife. “If we can find Hartley, maybe we can find all other the missing people with him.” He looked around carefully, he might have to make a quick exit if Cisco could track down their missing Meta.

“Cisco’s already working on it.” Caitlin reassured him. “And no sweeps required. We’ve been following Hartley’s trail with all the traffic cams leading out from the stores. We’re bound to see where home base is eventually.”

“Okay, keep me posted.” Barry sent a quick text to Joe and then headed over to Patty. She left Patterson with the wife and joined him.

“Anything?” She questioned him hopefully.

“No and yes.” Barry gave her an awkward smile. “There’s nothing here, just like at the other houses. But S.T.A.R. Labs has found something that connects our victims to the Museum robbery.”

Patty looked relieved, then elated. “Wow, just like you said at the precinct. Thank goodness that someone is finding a lead.” Her phone buzzed and she put it to her ear. Barry fidgeted, not sure how he was going to get out of police business so he could take care of Flash business.

Joe came through for him. Patty waved Patterson over. “Detective West has been alerted by our S.T.A.R. Labs consultant that the missing are victims of the Meta Hartley Rathaway, A.K.A. The Piper. We have to report back to start a mass search fanning out from his last known whereabouts – Barry, you’ve been ordered to head to S.T.A.R. Labs to run point on co-ordinating their evidence with ours.”

_Yes!_ Barry nodded rapidly. “I can do that. I’m friends with Cisco Ramon. He’ll share everything with me.” Didn’t hurt to set up for future Flash information having. After all, he wasn’t known as being the best for keeping secrets. “I’ll give him a call. He can swing by and pick me up so you can get to the search grid faster.”

Patty nodded, and headed back to the car with Patterson. Barry offered quick reassurance to the wife that her husband would be home soon, and once out of visual range of all of them, he sped to S.T.A.R. Labs.

“We found him!” Cisco crowed with triumph at Barry’s entrance. “Hartley and all the missing people are in a warehouse down by the waterfront. There’s a lot of movement but no one has emerged for the last three hours.”

So hopefully, that meant Hartley (or anyone else) wasn’t patrolling the grounds, trying to keep everyone in. Barry suited up and flashed down to the edge of the city where it met with the lake.

Recon showed that no one was overly worried about the possibility of the Flash, the police or even Santa Claus showing up. Barry finally just phased through the main doors and walked into what looked like a crew setting up for an illegal rave.

He gave his ear comm a poke. “Cisco? Did you catalogue what equipment was stolen?”

“Of course.” The voice in his ear was almost insulted. “We wanted to make sure Hartley wasn’t planning to build a bomb or something.”

“Did you figure out what he might be able to build?”

“Weeelllll,” Cisco drawled out uncertainly. “Honestly, it kind of looks like he’s trying to build a home entertainment system. I think that’s why the police thought it was just a regular smash-and-grab.”

“Home entertainment system.” Barry mumbled. That wasn’t quite what it looked like to him. “Could he build really fancy looking speakers?”

“Yes, but why would he –“

“Barry, if Hartley hooks his own equipment up to big enough speakers, he could start attacking people on a much wider scale than last time.” Caitlin broke in urgently. “You need to destroy the speakers so he can’t destroy the city.”

Barry shuddered, remembering Hartley’s attack that tried to shake him apart at the molecular level. It would be catastrophic for something like that to be unleashed through Central City. 

“Hartley?” He approached Hartley and his brainwashed crew cautiously, not wanting to trigger any fail-safes. “I think it’s time for everyone to put the toys away and go home.”

Hartley barely turned his head to look at Barry. The crew couldn’t even be bothered to do that. “No, Flash. It’s time for everyone to come together and become one.” He waved his arms at the expansive of wires draped like crepe paper around the room. “We’ve all heard the call. Now it’s time we shared it with the city.”

_Yikes._ Hartley had definitely had a drink of someone else’s Kool-Aid. Forget robbing the rich to get back what he felt he was owed, he was now all about some cult-y unity. What Barry wouldn’t give for the old Hartley destroying property for revenge.

“Tell me about the call.” Barry did a quick zip through the building. As far as he could tell, there was no one else in the building – no Meta’s with mind control or humans with far too magnetic of personalities that might be responsible for the group’s collective decision to play demented DJ. “Can you hear it right now? Who is sending it to you?”

“Can’t you tell?” Hartley beamed at Barry and walked over to the table in the middle of the speakers. The singing meteorite was in a glass box with more wires leading into it, reminding Barry queasily of a brain in a jar in a mad scientists’ lab. “It’s been singing the secrets of the universe and now it wants to share them with us.”

"Uh-huh." Barry really had no good reply for that revelation. "And what happens once we all know the universe's secrets?"

"We'll all become one." Hartley gestured to his gauntlets, like Barry was a co-conspirator. "After the signal reaches everyone, I'm going to reduce us all back to the ooze we came from. Once we’ve all merged, humanity can start over and evolve into something better.”

An incoherent squawk over the comms from Cisco was the only response that any of Team Flash could give. It was more than Barry could try to articulate. What on Earth was putting those kind of thoughts in Hartley’s head?

“Barry, is Hartley using his gauntlets right now?” A puzzled sounding Ronnie broke through. “I’m picking up a really weird signal pinging off the com. But it’s not trying to open communications, it’s just in the background, slowly eroding the frequency.”

“The only thing that’s plugged in is the meteorite.” Barry’s eyes darted around looking for _anything_ that could explain what was happening. “Is Hartley right? Could the meteorite really be talking to him?”

“Since meteorites are chunks of space rock, unless Hartley is also an Earth-bender as well as a Meta, I’m going to say no.”

“Cisco!” Caitlin scolded. “Be serious! We have to consider that something is happening that we can’t pick up.”

“But we _are_ picking it up.” Barry actually wasn’t too worried about taking the time to talk this problem out. Hartley was content to wander and work on his doomsday device with a look on his face like he’d consumed enough edibles to float an entire cancer ward. “If Ronnie can hear interference on our tech, then something like Hartley’s modified hearing aids could have had the same issue. And if it broke through those, there would be nothing stopping it from infecting the base systems that Hartley’s tech was created from, and spreading to other people with the same hardware.”

The team chewed that one over. “So the space rock is hypnotizing people.” Barry’s mouth quirked at Cisco’s flat delivery. “How exactly are we going to fight a rock?”

“Maybe it’s not the Meteorite exactly.” Caitlin mused. “After all, the Meteorite has no use for liquefied humans.”

“Caitlin, help me out here. If Hartley’s not bonkers, and the Meteorite is but also isn’t the one controlling him, what are we going to do?”

“What if there was bacteria on the Meteorite? A single cell lifeform would require simplified biological material as fuel to help it reproduce.”

“Nuh-uh. No way that some axe-crazy amoeba survived the trip through space, through the atmosphere only to try to war-of-the-worlds us. The Meteorite has been around for decades, why would it start its master plan now?”

The team came to the conclusion simultaneously. “The Particle Accelerator.”

This was a whole new type of Meta situation. Barry cringed inwardly at the realization that there could be Meta viruses getting ready to strike sometime in the future. Weren’t Meta people enough? They even had a Meta animal if you thought about Grodd. God forbid there be any more.

“Makes sense.” Barry could hear Ronnie yelling in the background. “It could have taken over a year for it to gain enough strength to contact Hartley. Now it’s getting through our tech a lot faster. Barry, we’re going to have to go dark before it breaks through. You’ll be on your own until Cisco and I can patch the system to keep it out.”

“I understand.” Barry locked eyes on Hartley as the soft pop at the end of the transmission indicated that the plug had been pulled, rather than the other end signing off. He had to end this fast. He might be protected from the signal infecting him through his own comms, but once those speakers were up and running, all bets were off.

He crouched slightly, vibrating. If he was careful, he would be through any forcefields, getting past Hartley, dismantling the speakers and grabbing the Meteorite for storage in the pipeline before his very confused enemy was brainwashed into destroying humanity. Unfortunately Hartley picked a terrible time to have a moment of clarity and met his gaze.

“I don’t think so, Flash.” 

Hartley jabbed a button on his left gauntlet and the speakers erupted with a deafening squeal of feedback. Barry dropped to his knees with his hands over his ears, screaming. He could feel blood seeping through his cowl – his left eardrum had burst, and the right was likely follow in the next heartbeat. On the bright side, it wasn’t so much as melting-into-goo pain as it was just regular, torturously unbearable pain, so in theory, Barry would still be able to stop Hartley. As soon as he could bring himself to get up off the floor.

As Barry rolled on the floor, wondering how dangerous it would be for the suit to have a noise cancelling headphones function built into the cowl, the shriek of feedback rose into a crescendo and then was cut off as the speaker burst. 

Barry's sob of relief was cut off by a familiar bellow echoing through the room. "What the fuck is going on in here? I’m tryin’ to watch the game!"

In pure disbelief, Barry watched Mick Rory storm into the building in his usual raging fury, Heat Gun already drawn. He was followed closely by Mark Mardon, and Barry belatedly smelled the ozone in the air; the speaker hadn't burst, Mark had struck it with a lightning bolt. Leonard strolled in next, still slipping his arms into his parka, looking like he was nonchalantly stepping out of a magazine. Lisa and Shawna Baez were close behind, looking curious, and another figure followed behind them, who Barry was willing to bet was Roy Bivolo.

Of all the dark corners of Central City to build a doomsday device, Hartley had chosen one next to a Rogue safehouse. What else could go wrong today?

"Pardon us, Flash." Leonard pulled on the Captain Cold persona as easily as his parka. "But we couldn't help but notice you were disturbing the whole fucking neighbourhood."

Barry wobbled upwards, ruptured eardrum not helping his balance. "Well, there's about to be no neighbourhood left, so why don't you consider it an early warning system to evacuate?"

Mardon snorted. "I say we help the little runt trash the place." He started forming ice pellets the size of golf balls. "S'not like we own it."

"I happen to like this neighbourhood." Leonard gave the Weather Wizard the side-eye. "And if we trash our building, then I hope you’re ready to put down a mortgage payment for our next one.”

“Now that the Flash knows about it, it’s toast anyways.” Mardon sneered. “I’m not stupid enough to stay somewhere that’s burnt.”

"I'll show you something that's burnt." Mick rumbled behind him. The Weather Wizard turned towards the larger man, sneering, and levitated his hailstones in preparation. Barry was about to have two batches of murders, with the resources to handle none.

"He's not here to destroy the area, he's here to melt all the people." Barry called to Leonard, hoping he would see reason and then herd his collection of troublemakers out the door out of self-preservation. "Those speakers are so he can use the vibrations to liquefy the city."

"Gross." Lisa pulled her Gold Gun out from its sheath at her back. "Lenny, let's waste the little pipsqueak and let the Flash deal with the rest. I've got stuff to do."

“Good idea.” Leonard mused thoughtfully. “Who thinks I can hit him from here?”

“No! You can’t!” All the Rogues turned to their Nemesis with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not his fault. Hartley is being brainwashed by Meta Bacteria. He’s a jerk, but he’s not a murderer.”

“There’s Meta Bacteria?” Shawna burst out, startling Roy. Barry had forgotten how she used to be a nurse, and that the information might mean more to her than the others. “What do you mean? Is it bacteria that only infects Metas or is it a bacteria with Meta powers?”

“It’s a bacteria that’s sending out a signal which was able to hack into Hartley’s hearing aids. It’s been spreading to others, and they’re planning to use the speakers to send it to more. Then Hartley will turn us all into fuel for it to keep growing and infecting others.”

“Screw that.” Mick turned back to all the equipment. “The only things melting around here will be from fire, not some vibrator.” He reared up and let out a blast of flame at Hartley that was large enough to cook a woolly mammoth.

The only excuse that Barry had at not reacting fast enough to the proclamation was that the world was still tilting at a funny angle from the effects of the burst eardrum. He watched in horror as the flames stretched towards the speakers, and by obvious connection, Hartley himself. It was a pure feeling of relief when the flames crashed into Hartley’s forcefield, and went out, not connecting with any new fuel source.

“Something you forgot to tell us, Flash?”

Barry squirmed a bit at the sound of the Captain Cold drawl turned his way. “Ummm, he sort of has a forcefield? And super hearing.”

“Good to know.” Leonard drew his cold gun. “Lisa, let’s make it a little harder for the little mind melter to see what we’re doing.”

Both Cold and Gold guns worked in harmony to coat Hartley’s forcefield to block his view. Leonard then whipped out his cellphone, using the notebook aspect to inform the team of the rest of the plan, pointedly leaving Barry out of it.

Leonard motioned for the Rogues to take up their positions, which gave Barry another few seconds to heal and hopefully regain his balance. He was going to have to be fast to keep the Rogues from killing Hartley.  
Mick and Mark took point, with Lisa and Leonard covering Shawna and Roy.

A countdown from three, and then Leonard yelled, “Go!” Causing the two men in front to simultaneously hit the ice and gold with a concentrated strike of fire and lightning. The cover shattered, and as soon it as it was clear, Shawna grabbed Roy and teleported them inside with Hartley.

Barry sucked in a breath at the sight of the three of them in the confined space, sure that one of them was about to be hurt very badly. But Shawna had positioned Roy directly in front of Hartley to catch his eye and he must have had a new trick; because instead of exploding in a rage, the younger Meta went completely docile, and Shawna teleported all three of them back out without incident.

Barry sped over, making sure not to look at Roy. He reached up and gently disengaged both earpieces, hoping that the cancellation of the signal would snap Hartley out of his (first) trance immediately. If that didn’t work, maybe the sudden onslaught of pain from his own powers would.

Whichever one worked, Hartley wrenched free of both Shawna and Barry with a loud cry, clamping his hands over his ears. The Rogue and the Hero both tried to calm the distressed Meta; Hartley collapsed to his knees, shaking. It made Barry wonder if the Meteorite hadn’t let him eat or sleep while under its thrall.

“Hartley.” Barry tried to get his attention, while Shawna fought off his batting hands to take his pulse. “Hartley, the Meteorite has been controlling you. It’s been brainwashing you through your hearing aids. You have to shut down the forcefield so I can take it to the pipeline. That'll keep it quiet." He finally managed to catch Hartley's pained gaze, and wondered if it would be prudent to have Roy zap him again. "Please, Hartley. You have to turn it off."

"Won't work." Hartley finally croaked out. "Signal too strong."

"Then I can run it out of the country." Barry realized that it wouldn't work as soon as the words left his mouth. "Or we'll find a way to send it back into space. Hartley, please!"

“That’s not enough.” With a grimace, Hartley pushed himself back to his feet, bumping off of both Barry and Shawna. “Cisco’s tech won’t hold it. And he can’t build a rocket in time to send it home.”

And now Barry was glad the comms were off, because he couldn’t imagine the outrage that would be pouring out of it. “We’ll figure something out, I promise.”

“I’m not going to wait for you to fix it, damn it. _I’ll_ do it.” Hartley raised both arms and simultaneously dropped the barrier and sent out a sonic pulse that burst the Meteorite into powder. The recoil sent the three of them tumbling to the floor, eliciting a pained gasp from Barry when Shawna teleported, leaving him to absorb Hartley's full weight.

Back on the floor, Barry heard the familiar click of the comms switching back on under the angry protestations of the downed Rogues, and the confused cries of the other victims. "Barry? Barry? Cisco's managed to get our frequency circling every point three nanoseconds. It should be safe to talk.” Caitlin’s voice was reassuring music to Barry’s ears. “Have you been able to get close to Hartley? Is there a way to grab the Meteorite? If you can, try not to touch it with your hands. We don’t want the bacteria to spread in case it’s capable of infecting people virally as well as audibly.”

And suddenly it was a lot less reassuring. Barry grimaced. “Uh, so what if the Meteorite was blown into tiny pieces? Would that keep everyone safer, or…….?”

A pregnant pause. “No. Is that what happened?” Caitlin delicately tried not to ask if Barry had been the one to screw up so badly. Luckily, he had the defense that this particular fuck-up was not his fault. He got to his feet, and helped Hartley do the same.

“The Rogues were nearby, and they helped snap Hartley out of the brain-washing. But once he was free, he destroyed the Meteorite to keep himself safe.”

There was so much silence over the comms for a moment that Barry could swear he could hear the team thinking. _What were the Rogues doing there? Why did they bother to help? Why would Barry trust their help? What was everyone going to do now?_

“Which Rogues are there with you, Barry?”

“All of them.” Barry’s eyes darted over all the occupants of the warehouse, criminals and victims. “Everyone seems okay, though I’m thinking Hartley and the other hostages should see a doctor, just in case.”

Murmurs of Caitlin and Ronnie conferring, and then, “Barry, you need to get Heatwave to burn down the building.”

“What?!”

She continued in a rush. “Ronnie will use S.T.A.R. Labs funds to purchase the building. Then Rory can use the extreme temperatures of the Heat Gun to make sure that the bacteria lying around is destroyed. We’ll bring down a portable decontamination tent, and take care of whatever traces might be attached to you or anyone else.”

Barry cringed. “Okay. But you’ll have to alert Joe to keep the police and the fire department well away until we’re ready for them. Otherwise, the Rogues won’t stick around. And you’d better figure out a way to decontaminate their gear without destroying it, or they’ll destroy _us.”_

Another pause, and Cisco came back on the line. “I’ll bring our strongest UV lights. That should take care of anything that we can’t replace with lab scrubs or sweats. AND, I’m bringing the portable Meta Dampeners. They won’t work for long range, but it’ll keep everyone safe while we clean.”

“You know those will block my powers too, right?” No answer. Barry hoped that while they told Joe to keep the cops away, he and Eddie snuck in with their guns. Otherwise, the Rogues were going to be able to hold him down and beat him to death with only their fists. Now that would be an embarrassing way for his time as the Flash to end. 

But first things first. Barry settled Hartley on a dusty crate and scooted over to where Leonard was collecting the Rogues together to make a hasty exit.

What Barry probably should have started with was ‘Thank you’. Instead he blurted out, “You can’t leave yet.”

“And why ever the hell not, Flash?” Leonard snapping at being challenged in front of his crew. “You can’t be trying to blame us for this – if anything, we saved the day, not you.”

“You’re right.” Barry said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. “You’re right. But when the Meteorite blew up, the bacteria went everywhere. You need to stay to be decontaminated or you could be infected.”

All the Rogues stilled in place, not liking either option. Barry pressed on. “S.T.A.R. Labs is going to handle that part. The authorities aren’t going to be called until after, to help these people get home safely. You can be the first ones to go through the process and then leave before they get here.”

Leonard’s eyes narrowed, searching Barry for any sign he was lying, and that the police were already on the way to whisk them off to prison. “If you’re trying to double-cross us, this will end very badly for you, Flash.”

Yes it would. “I promise, I just want everyone to stay safe. This means you too.”

Leonard nodded, lips pursing thoughtfully. “We’ll stay and get de-loused with the rest of the party. I don’t want any of us to be the next patient zero. But the first hint of police, and you are going to have so much more than some pesky little germs to worry about.”

“We can’t call the police yet.” Barry admitted. “We um, we actually need you to save the day a little more first.”

Leonard raised an eyebrow. “And what else could we conceivably do for you today? I think it’s your turn to do some hero-ing, especially since you won’t like our price list.”

A smile tugged at Barry’s lips. “Actually, I was thinking this might be part of your complimentary package. One of the little extras you might leave behind after your heists, like chocolates on a pillow.” It was worth the bristling he could see developing between the other Rogues for the look of disbelief on Leonard’s face at his daring.

“What, oh _what_ could we ever _possibly_ want to do for free?”

# ⚡❄⚡

Barry guided the last of the meteor-napped into the decontamination tent where Caitlin and Cisco were waiting. The Rogues had been the first ones through and were already gone, the exception being Mick, who was so entranced by the flames that he probably wasn't going to notice when the police showed up, and Leonard, who was still there presumably to keep Mick from becoming so entranced that he walked into the inferno.

Surprisingly, the victims were in decent shape. They were tired, hungry, and a little dehydrated, but none of them had suffered any injuries (not even from the meteorite blow-up) or medical issues. So it wasn’t a real problem that they hadn’t called for ambulances yet, but it was something they really should be doing soon.

“Uh, Snart?” The name felt odd in Barry’s mouth after they had grown so much closer. He stopped a respectful distance away from his lover and nemesis in case any Rogue had lingered nearby to keep an eye on things. “I know that Mick is really enjoying himself, but he’s going to have to wrap it up soon. We’re not going to be able to hold the fire department at bay for much longer.”

“Shouldn’t you be trying to keep them away until the building is nothing but ashes?” Leonard commented absently, eyes focused on a blanket draped Hartley, seated with the other freshly scrubbed victims.

“I’ll be able to keep them from intervening with the demolition of this one, but they’re going to want to make sure the flames don’t spread any further. I’m sorry, but you and Mick should really think of going next, so you can get clear.”

“Yes, we should.” Leonard mused, finally turning to face Barry. “And you need to let Hartley leave with us.”

“What?”

“Hear me out.” Leonard thrust a finger in the air. “He’s getting a significant amount of the blame for this, but we both know He’s just as much a victim as all the others. Let me have him for the Rogues. That way you won’t owe us for the save today.”

"I can't just _give_ you a person."

Leonard rolled his eyes so hard that Barry thought they might fall out. "I will _ask_ Hartley to join the Rogues. He will obviously accept because it's in his best interests. _You_ will look the other way, and when the police arrived, you all will discover that he cleverly escaped while you were taking care of people. All will be well."

"Until the next time when the Rogues decide to team up and kill me, instead of save the day."

"We will have the numbers on our side, won't we?" Leonard grinned. "And if he's as good as Cisco is at making tech, our next performance is going to be a blast."

“Hopefully still a smaller blast than this one.” Barry eyed the flaming building warily. The west side was starting to look like it was about to topple. If it started, he really was going to have to get Mick to move. Preferably into the tent and then back to their lair.

Leonard watched him tracking their resident pyromaniac. “Probably not as large as the party will be later at Saints and Sinners. Mick’s going to be in such a great mood, it’ll probably go on for days.” He nodded at Barry at stepped away to collect his captivated partner. “You should come by, it’s guaranteed to be a fun disaster.”

“That would probably be a bad idea, all considering.” Barry called after him.

Leonard flashed him another grin over his shoulder. “You never know.”

It would be a bad idea. But it stayed with Barry all through his own decontamination, and the excuses he made to Joe and the rest of the police about why Team Flash was suddenly into destroying private property. It would be such a bad idea to willingly wander into a bar full of people who had all previously tried to kill his alter ego. Barry didn’t need to invite that kind of trouble. No, it would just be too bad of an idea.

Barry kept telling himself that, after the building had burnt itself out, and after the Flash’s shift had ended, right up until he found himself in front of Saints and Sinners. The he started making excuses. None of the other Rogues knew what he looked like without the mask. He'd already been in the bar twice, so while he wasn't a regular, he wouldn't stick out as brand new to everyone. And he’d changed into a dark hoodie and older shoes, so he wasn’t going to look like a preppy college kid that had come to the wrong side of town looking for a thrill. It would be okay.

Squaring his shoulders, Barry stepped through the doors and walked straight into a scene that wouldn’t have been out of place in the Caligula movie.

The jukebox was at full volume, and there were women dancing on a few of the pool tables, much to the delight of the bikers. Shawna was one of them; Barry didn’t see Lisa anywhere. Mardon was creating giant icicles and hurling them at the wall in competition with other men armed with darts. There were enough people in such euphoric moods that alcohol wasn’t the only substance being consumed with abandon; he could smell the competing odors of pot and tobacco percolating the room.

The centre of it all was Mick and a floor littered with bottles. Barry couldn’t tell if it was a drinking competition or an arm wrestling match, but there seemed to be an awful lot of large men beating on each other, stopping to cheer, downing a shot, cheering again and then resuming the beating.

Barry reflected on how lucky he’d actually been to be a nerd in college, and thus, not invited to any frat parties. He might not have survived his school years if he’d been cooler.

Gingerly edging around a couple (or a working girl and client? Barry wasn’t sure) who were enthusiastically exploring each other’s dental work, he made his way to the bar.

Leonard was there waiting, idly peeling the label off of a beer and keeping an eye on his wayward crew. He sat up straighter with a pleased look on his face, sliding the bottle over to Barry as the latter took the stool next to him.

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“I thought I was invited.” Barry countered, taking a swig from the (mostly) full bottle. “Or did you think I wasn’t brave enough to try your fun disaster?”

“Maybe not in casual dress.” Leonard’s eyes raked up and down Barry’s form appreciatively. “But I can admit when I’m wrong.”

“Can I buy you another drink?”

Leonard batted his eyelashes at Barry. “I’d ask if you were trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me, but tragically, I know better.” He signaled the bartender for another beer. “And Mick is actually covering everyone’s beer tonight. He’s in a _great_ mood, and decided to share it.”

“Really? I didn’t think that Mick would be so generous.” Barry commented, and then cringed at the stern look he received.

“We have just as many hidden depths as you heroes do.” Leonard gave Barry an irritated sniff. “And since you’re talking about my partner, to whom you owe a thank you for all his help, you should try to keep that in mind.”

Barry flushed shamefully. He did tend to consider Mick as the two-dimensional brawn to Len’s brains. He’d have to try to be nicer about Leonard’s friends, especially if he hoped to coax Len into being nice about his own. It would be really nice if Leonard could occasionally remind the Rogues that kidnapping a member of Team Flash would not work in their best interests.

He took another drink and decided to change the subject. “So, are you really going to stay at that safehouse?" Leonard gave him a smirky side-eye. 

"Oh, no. One safehouse location is all you get."

"That's not what I meant.” Exasperated, Barry set down his beer. “I’m here. I want to spend time with you. I don’t to talk about my work. You don’t want to talk about yours. What conversation do you want to have?”

Leonard scooted closer to Barry, elbows resting on the bar. “We don’t just have to _talk,_ you know.”

Before Barry could ask if Leonard was insinuating that he wanted to make out at a bar populated by all his friends, a bigger concern popped up.

His family.

"Len-ny," Lisa wrapped her arms around his shoulders from the side so they were cheek to cheek. From the sing-song tone of voice it sounded like Lisa was enjoying having someone else covering the tab. "Who's your new friend?" 

Figuring it was safest to play dumb, Barry offered her a hand. "Hi. I'm Barry."

"I'm Lisa, Leonard's beautiful, single, _younger_ sister." Lisa cheerfully informed Barry, giving him a thorough once over. "I don't think I've seen you around before. What on Earth brings you here to chat with my emotionally stunted brother?"

"I’ve been here a few times, and I haven’t seen you either.” Barry countered, determined not to be cowed by the inherent power of little sister nosiness. Living with Iris had given him plenty of practice. “I guess the timing’s been off. But Len’s good company, so I’ll probably be around more often.”

Lisa studied Barry carefully, giving him a thorough once over. Barry almost held his breath in worry. What would he do if Golden Glider decided that he wasn’t worthy of her brother? His speed was unusable, and he would be left in the Catch-22 of making Len unhappy if he defended himself against Lisa, and the other denizens of the bar eating him alive if he didn’t.

Hoping it wouldn’t come to that, Barry attempted a nervous smile. The longer Lisa was quiet, the worse it probably boded for him. “Um, it’s nice to meet you?”

Lisa finally smiled back. “So tell me, Barry, what brought you to our neck of the woods? You look too clean to be a local.”

So much for blending in. “I was in the area for business, and I was mugged. I came into Saints and Sinners looking to get cleaned up and wound up talking to Len." Shoot, now Lisa probably thought he was a drug addict. His good first impression was failing mightily.

"He's just so cute when he’s covered in blood.” Leonard’s mouth turned up in a wry grin, no doubt thinking about all opportunities he’d had to see the sight. Barry made a little moue of displeasure. That was not how he wanted to look when pictured in his boyfriend's head.

"Hmmm. _Business._ " Lisa pursed her lips. "I didn't think you made a habit of paying for it, Lenny."

Forget drug addict, Lisa thought he was a prostitute. Barry died a little inside, and started frantically thinking of a legitimate excuse of why he'd been in the area, without going the completely logical route and admitting he was a CSI and pretending he'd been attending a crime scene. Now that, would probably get him killed by Lisa and the bikers while Leonard watched.

About to start a nervous ramble, he saw Leonard's shoulders shaking minutely and figured it out. The Snart siblings were having some fun at his expense. Barry couldn't let that lie.

"Oh, there's no way he could afford me." Barry gave Lisa a smile that was a baring of teeth and turned back to Leonard. "So it's lucky that we go dutch when we're on a date."

"We haven't yet." Leonard pointed out, amused.

"We will from now on." Barry countered with gritted teeth.

"Oh, you should make Lenny treat you." Lisa switched sides with a diabolical relationship-testing glee. "He's good for it. _His_ business is quite profitable."

Now Leonard was giving Lisa the side eye. "Never said I wasn't, trainwreck."

Lisa grinned at Barry. "Make him take you somewhere expensive."

Not wanting to continue the growth of a fight that was trying to settle between two of the three of them, Barry tried to curb his responding grin. "I'd rather go somewhere fun."

"Ooooh, shopping or dancing?" Lisa's eyes sparkled, and Leonard gave Barry a little glare, mouthing 'No'. Barry could imagine Lisa demanding to tag along to both, so he understood why.

"I actually prefer Karaoke." Barry couldn't resist tweaking Leonard's nose just a bit. "But I'm flexible. We can just go listen to the music and drink."

"But that's perfect!" Lisa squealed, nearly strangling Leonard as she surged forward. "Lenny is a great singer!"

_"Lisa!"_

Both Barry and Lisa ignored the tone of an eldritch horror being dragged through Leonard's vocal chords. "Jazz is his favourite. But get him drunk enough and you can get him to do everything from Rap to Disney. "

"Enough." Leonard shook off Lisa and pointed her back towards the dancing. “I’m not getting drunk tonight, so no performances will be forthcoming, unless someone wants to dance topless on this bar. Not you.” Leonard added and gave Lisa a push as she laughed wildly. “You, go away.”

"I don't think I can get drunk enough anymore to table dance." Barry grinned at Leonard. "But if we were to get _you_ drinking....."

"No, no, no. If you're not going to take advantage of me in a fragile state, then it's just a waste of alcohol." Leonard primly took a swig from his own beer. "However, if I stay sober-ish, then maybe I can get lucky.”

“Give me some credit.” Barry tried to match Leonard’s coy tone. “I’m holding out for at least a dinner date with you before I give it up.” 

“Hmmm. I guess that is the tradition.” Leonard mused. “For this slightly unofficial date, how would you feel about making out in a corner booth with some heavy petting?” 

“Only if you’ll dance with me first.” Barry teased Leonard and offered a hand. “I’ll bet if you do, and I grind up on you hard enough, Lisa will leave you alone.”

“You grind up on me hard enough and even Lisa will be shocked at what I do to you in the booth.” Leonard finished off his beer. “But let’s do it anyways.”

And to Barry’s delight, Leonard took his hand and led him to the dance floor in front of Lisa, the Bikers, and all the Rogues. Hot damn, he couldn’t wait to tell Patty - he definitely had a boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To start off the notes: I've borrowed the "Singing Meteorite" from the Flash tie-in Novel "The Haunting of Barry Allen" by Susan and Clay Griffith. Very fun read, would recommend. Please excuse all the changes (pretty much everything but the name of the Meteorite) I made to it.
> 
> And we introduce Patty! Patty who could have been used a lot more and stuck around a lot longer in the series. So much missed potential to use here. ^_^ Barry needs a friend that he can confide in about Len, at least until it all hits the fan with both teams.
> 
> Not really any smut in this chapter either. Not for lack of trying (I tried a morning after scene for Len and Barry and then one where Len hopped back into the decontamination tent with Barry,) but I found it didn't work for the flow. Next chapter for sure. Those two really can't keep their hands off each other. 
> 
> At least now the boys are dating and learning how Len and Barry can exist at the same time Flash and Captain Cold exist and no one needs to be constant at someone else's throat over it.


	9. Ssssssaved

Barry wiped the sweat off of his forehead, trying to get a clear visual on the debris. The July sun was incredibly punishing, beating down on his shoulders and radiating up from the pavement as he crawled along on his hands and knees, trying to determine the cause of all the mess.

An explosion on the top tier of a parking garage had been reported, but no device (or fragments thereof) could be found. Barry was starting to be sure that it had to have been a shockwave from a Meta. The only thing that continued to mystify was the amount of leathery detritus around. It had obviously been part of the blow-up, he just couldn’t figure out what its purpose had been. Unless the Meta had detonated a few dozen footballs as a lark, and Barry couldn’t imagine that even eight-graders would get a kick out of that.

“Find anything?” Patty crouched next to him, looking as nearly as sweaty as Barry felt. (At least she and Joe could take turns sitting in the car’s air conditioning.) “I mean, find anything that explains anything? I know you’re finding all kinds of garbage.”

Barry scrubbed the back of his neck with his shirt sleeve. “I don’t know. I think the only thing I can do at this point is collect all the pieces and see if I can reassemble the whole thing in the lab. At least then we can get an idea of _what_ it was, and maybe why it might have been blown. Probably won’t help with the “who”, but that might come if we find more of these later.”

Patty looked at him in dismay. “That’ll take you forever.”

Whoops. Barry was so used to easy dialogue with Patty that he’d forgotten she wasn’t an official member of Team Flash. “Uh, actually my jigsaw puzzle game is pretty on point. It won’t take me as long as you might think.”  
Patty laughed. "If you can get this put together in less than a year, you'd probably qualify for the Guinness Book of World records."

"Probably once we figure out what this is, it will belong more on Ripley's Believe it or Not."

Patty knelt to help Barry collect the smaller pieces and the two of them continued chuckling as Joe came out of the patrol car to join them.

"Patty, we’ve got another call – there’s a robbery in progress at the Central City Shopping Mall and the dispatcher says the place is crawling with snakes. Witness reports make it sound like a Meta attack.”

Patty jumped to her feet, and so did Barry. The three of them jogged back to the patrol car.

Joe held up a hand and caught Barry’s eye meaningfully. “Barry, you’ll have to finish up alone, and give the precinct a call to pick you and the evidence up when you’re done. Patty and I will head out to the Mall alone.”  
“Sure! Sure.” Barry bobbed his head empathically. “No problem. I’ll stay here, and when I’m finished I can help you with the evidence over there.”

“Good! We’ll see you soon then.” Joe and Patty peeled off, lights and siren’s blaring.

Barry waited until they’d turned the corner and gathered up the evidence at Mach One speed. He dropped it off at his desk at the precinct and sped to S.T.A.R. Labs for his uniform.

He arrived at the CCSM exactly ten seconds after Patty and Joe’s departure. They wouldn’t be arriving for at least another six minutes. Barry could hear screams coming from the third floor, where all the really upscale boutiques were situated. So that solved the question of ‘where’.

He stopped short in front of a clothing store known for its purses that cost more than then monthly rent on Barry’s old apartment. (And this, Barry knew, due to how very much Iris wanted one as a graduation present that Joe couldn’t afford.) A cashier had climbed onto the mannequin stand, and was shrieking at the top of her lungs. Another was kneeling on the counter doing the same thing.

He glanced downwards and immediately saw the wisdom of their choices. The floor of the boutique was crawling with snakes. Dozens and dozens of serpentine bodies of all sizes and colours writhed along the marble tile. And Barry had no idea if any of them were poisonous.

“Uh, Cisco? I don’t suppose you know anything about snake handling?”

A crackle over the comms and then, “Nope. I’m with Indiana Jones on _that_ little topic – no messing with the Danger Noodles for me. Can’t you just kick a garbage can over it or something?”  
“A few too many for that.”

“Well, shit. Hold on, let me Google it.”

Barry gingerly stepped around a snake that was making a break for the door and then flashed both cashiers to the ornamental fountain across the hall for safety and the illusion that he was making progress with the situation.  
“So, if it’s not poisonous, it looks like you grab by the middle of its body so it doesn’t freak out too much.”

“I don’t know if they’re poisonous. There’s different kinds!”

“Um, well you can do this fast enough that they probably won’t be able to bite you anyways.” Cisco paused. “Then it says to gently drop the snake in a pillowcase for safe relocation.”

“Why a pillowcase?”

A long pause and then, “I think that’s what they say to use because it’s something that most people will have on hand. It’s porous so the snake can breathe, but easy to seal off and carry without worrying it will escape.”

Was there a bedding supplies store still in the mall? Barry couldn’t remember the last time he’d browsed the shops. He might have to do a quick recon and hope nothing escaped while he was gone. He gathered his body for the trip and the nanosecond before takeoff, his gaze came to rest on the mannequin he’d rescued the cashier from, dressed in a pencil skirt and soft looking sweater and holding one of their high end handbags.

“Of course.” Barry nearly face-palmed and then in burst of speed, rounded up every single reptile into the various purses the store had in stock. He made sure to circle the store three times, finding the ones that had already discovered the warm and dark hiding places that the shoe boxes and the stock room had to offer.

“Flash?” Patty approached him from the doorway with Joe not far behind. “Is everything clear?”

“I’ve got all the snakes contained safely, but you’re going to need to call animal control. There’s no sign anywhere of any Metas. They must have gotten away before I got here.”

“I couldn’t reach the panic button from on top of the counter.” Both Detectives and Barry turned to see that the cashier had returned. “We couldn’t do anything. One of the customers must have called the police after she ran out the door.” Her eyes darted frantically around the floor. “Are they all gone now? Where are they?”

Joe and Patty turned back to Barry who grimaced. “I, uh, trapped them all inside those bags there.” He pointed to the purses lined up neatly on the floor. “So, um, if the Meta’s gone, then I guess you don’t need me here anymore.” While he really wanted to stick around and here the description of the thief, he really didn’t want the cashier or Patty to ask the obvious question of how he’d known to come running. It was too bad Joe wasn’t paired with Eddie today. He could have gotten away with “helping” them question witnesses and take statements, even if he’d have had to sign autographs and take selfies to do it.

He dashed away even as the cashier began to lament at what he’d used their expensive inventory for. Arriving back at the station, he plead a prolonged bathroom break as his excuse to why he’d left the explosive minutiae unattended, and was “punished” by Julian going on the snake thief call himself.

Chaffing at the wait to know more about the possible Meta, Barry used the opportunity of Julian’s absence to assemble the bomb leftovers into a shell of their former glory. He stepped back in triumph as the last piece was put into place and was immediately stumped. Re-constructed, it was a six-foot, leathery brown blob. And he had no idea what it was used for, or even just what it actually _was _.__

__All he could do is snap photographs of the finished product to take to S.T.A.R. Labs. Maybe Cisco or Caitlin could figure it out. He’d be sure to send the lab results of the blob’s chemical makeup when they came back their way too._ _

__He’d keep a copy of the photos for himself too; maybe take the opportunity pass them around the dinner table and see if Iris had any thoughts._ _

__Sadly, no one had any ideas about the blob at the dinner table, because Joe had an idea about how well Barry got along with Patty, and everyone was entirely too eager to roll with it._ _

__“I’m just saying, Bare, Detective Spivot seems to like you. And she’s young and attractive, she won’t be single for long.”_ _

__Barry grimaced inwardly, and scooped up a forkful of potatoes. “I just don’t think I’m up for a girlfriend right now, Joe. I’ve got a lot on my plate.” Like a boyfriend who liked to rob banks, who Barry still had no idea at how he would be introduced to his law-abiding and law-employed family._ _

__“Bare-reee.” Iris rolled her eyes at hi. “Dad isn’t saying that you should offer to move in with her. You could just ask her to out for coffee, or to see a movie.”_ _

__Little did they all know, Barry had spent many a coffee break with Patty, the two of them analyzing his movie date with Leonard to death. “Patty is pretty great. That’s why I wouldn’t want to string her along if I can’t manage to juggle everything properly.”_ _

__Iris scoffed, and Barry cast around desperately for a topic that wasn’t his love life before he blurted out that he already had a contender in that department. That was an interrogation that he didn’t want to have for as long as humanly possible._ _

__“So, have you decided on a venue for the wedding yet?” It was a low blow, but Iris could talk about the wedding for hours. If Barry could get her going, it would be nothing for him to finish dinner and retreat._ _

__“Why, are you thinking that would be the best time to ask her out?”_ _

____Oh, goddammit.__ _ _

__Eddie, probably sensing that family dinner was attempting to become a family feud, jumped on that particular grenade for Barry. “Iris was talking about having it at a church, but I’ve been trying to talk her into having it on the steps of City Hall. It would be a lot cheaper, and more of the guys on the force would come.”_ _

__“Eddie, no! Didn’t you look at the binder?” Iris’ tone took on a pleading tone. “City Hall is so noisy, and you just know that a Meta will do something downtown and disrupt everything. At least if we’re inside, there’s less background noise.”_ _

__Barry bolted down his last few platefuls of dinner and escaped to his room as Joe, Eddie and Iris started on a roundabout of what was more cost effective (on two detective’s salaries) for the wedding versus the picturesque dream of what could be. He paced around the worn carpet, almost wishing that the Flash alarm would go off and he’d have an excuse to go out._ _

__Or maybe he could see one of the villains without having to worry about crowd control._ _

__Pulling out his phone, he shot off a quick text._ _

__⚡I don’t suppose you’re free right now? ⚡_ _

__It took a few minutes, but Len replied._ _

__❄Sorry, kind of in a business meeting.  
Can talk this way though.  
What’s up? ❄ _ _

__⚡Don’t worry, nothing important.  
Was just looking for a distraction. ⚡_ _

__❄You can have one, if you’ll settle for puns instead of my beautiful face. ❄_ _

__⚡If you’re busy, I can go. ⚡_ _

__❄No, I can yell at Rathaway and text you at the same time.  
Flash problems? ❄ _ _

__⚡No, just family annoyances.  
Rogue business? ⚡_ _

__❄I’ll never tell. ❄_ _

__Barry rolled his eyes. Great. Sounds like trouble in the making. Still….he debated whether to ask Leonard if it was ready to roll out. A distraction was a distraction, after all._ _

__❄But that shouldn’t stop us from being entertained. ❄_ _

__⚡Oh? ⚡  
❄How hard are you right now? ❄ _ _

__⚡I didn’t text you for that! ⚡_ _

__❄You sure? ❄_ _

__⚡Yes! I just wanted some company that’s not bugging me. ⚡_ _

__❄What if the other company is also looking forward to buggering you? ❄_ _

__⚡Len! ⚡_ _

__❄You love it. ❄_ _

__Embarrassingly enough, Barry did. He could picture Leonard kneeling over him and using the Captain Cold drawl to dirty talk him into submission. And dammit, it did make him hard._ _

__⚡You sure you don’t want to talk about something else? ⚡_ _

__❄Absolutely.  
But just to make sure I’m getting the details right, better send me a picture. ❄ _ _

__⚡Of? ⚡_ _

__❄What do you think, genius? ❄_ _

__⚡No way. I’m not sending you a dick pic. ⚡_ _

__❄Hey, if we’re going to keep texting like this, I’m going to need some inspiration.  
It’s not like I can jerk off here with so many people around. ❄ _ _

__⚡That’s precisely why I’m not sending you a dick pic.  
No way are you sharing that with the Rogues. ⚡_ _

__❄I certainly wouldn’t share it with anyone.  
Rathaway’s enough of a pain without having him try to steal you. ❄ _ _

__⚡I wouldn’t date Hartley. ⚡_ _

__❄No, you’re dating me, and your boyfriend wants proof of your affection. ❄_ _

__⚡You’re horrible. ⚡_ _

__❄You love that too. ❄_ _

__Barry chewed his lip and glanced furtively around his room like he expected Iris to pop out of his closet. He shouldn’t, should he? But it wasn’t like Barry was sending pictures out randomly to strangers. He locked the door and sat on the edge of the bed._ _

__❄I’m waiting. ❄_ _

__⚡I need a minute, okay? ⚡_ _

__❄Last time with your vibrating trick, you only need a few seconds.  
Make sure to lick your palm first, I want you to look nice and wet. ❄ _ _

__That last instruction helped make up Barry’s mind. He shoved his pants and briefs down his legs, taking his very interested prick in hand._ _

__Barry closed his eyes and pictured Len sitting at the head of the bed, watching him with heated eyes and his evil little smirk. He gave his cock a slow stroke, remembering the hot suction of Leonard’s mouth milking it, and the dark triumph in his eyes as he made Barry beg to come. If the thief wasn’t so busy plotting to steal the Crown Jewels, or the Mayor’s car or whatever had caught his eye, he would probably be there right now with Barry, stripping off the rest of his clothes. Then it would be all about how Len wanted it, telling Barry what position to assume, maybe pushing him against the wall or even pinning him to the bed._ _

__Then he’d probably love bite his way down Barry’s body, leaving all those delicious little hickeys that only lasted a few seconds. He’d wrap his clever fingers around the base of Barry’s shaft and guide the head between his lips, lavishing the same (gentler) attention to the length._ _

__Barry’s cock was throbbing in his fist, and he didn’t have to worry about Len’s saliva request – he was leaking enough that there was plenty of moisture to work with. He vibrated his hand for two seconds, and then ceased, snapping a picture of his cock near the brink._ _

__Before he could change his mind, he wrote a quick text and hit send._ _

__⚡Thinking of you. ⚡_ _

__❄Very nice.  
I do good work.  
Send me one with a shot of your balls, I don’t get to play with them enough. ❄ _ _

__Laughing, Barry took another picture, using the mirror on his closet door to get the correct coverage._ _

__⚡This what you want? ⚡_ _

__❄Yes.  
I may kill Rathaway just to shut him up so we can leave early.  
Any chance I can get a picture of you fingering yourself for when I manage some alone time? ❄ _ _

__⚡I don’t have enough hands to manage that and take a picture. ⚡_ _

__❄Damn, you’re right.  
I’ll have to make that up to you later.  
One finger or two? ❄ _ _

__⚡Please make sure later is the two of us alone, and not in the middle of whatever you’re planning. ⚡_ _

__❄So picky.  
Dammit, now Mick’s yelling.  
I have to go.  
Send me one last pic when you’re finished.  
Try to picture me bending you over the hood of a police car.  
You were so into it in my dreams last night. ❄ _ _

__It made Barry smile to think that Len fantasized about him as much as he thought about Len. And the thought of Len behind him, pushing that thick cock into him while Len held him down was the thing that did it. Barry came with a gasp, thick ropes of cum spilling out of him so fast he barely could bring the camera back up catch himself in the act._ _

__One last text, and Barry collapsed back on his bed._ _

__⚡The idea of you inside me in any way is inspiring.  
Goodnight. ⚡_ _

__Later, he’d have to worry about making better excuses to why he didn’t want his father or his best friend playing matchmaker. Now…..now life was pretty perfect._ _

__

____

# ⚡❄⚡

The snake Meta struck again at a Jewelry shop uptown, leaving Barry corralling a dozen rattlesnakes as onlookers squealed. There was no sign of the Meta anywhere, and with not enough evidence to point in any directions, tempers were only growing shorter.

It didn’t help that Barry’s re-constituted Meta leftover was taking up a whole corner of the shared lab, and neither he nor Julian could make out what it was supposed to be. He’d even snuck samples to S.T.A.R. Labs, and even Cisco was mystified. For now, the only thing they could say about it was that it was very ugly abstract art.

“And you’re sure that none of the chemical components of it are explosive?” Julian rifled through the stack of test results they’d both run. “Not even any residues from contact with other materials?”

“We’ve run every test we can, and even sent samples to S.T.A.R., Mercury, and Ivo Labs to see if their equipment could pick up traces of any element, chemical, or biological material that ours aren’t sensitive enough to detect. The only thing they were able to pick up were traces of dark matter, so it just confirms that it’s Meta in origin. We didn’t even find any fingerprints on it.”

“It’s bloody rubbish.” Julian muttered darkly, thumbing through the stack of files on his desk. “Speaking of Metas, anything from the Jewelry Snakes?”

“One of the witnesses mentioned seeing a woman in a red Prada dress at the scene, but she was so distracted by the sight of the Rattlesnakes that she didn’t take in any other details. So we don’t know if that was a possible sighting of the Meta, or just another witness that didn’t stick around.” 

“Well, not to sound like a prat, but if the Meta is a woman, it would make sense why all the robberies have been at boutiques that are more on the posh side.”

Barry had to admit he had a point. “High end clothes and purses, and more than ten thousand dollars in diamonds gone, so it’s definitely someone with expensive tastes. Do we have any irate trophy wives going on sprees? Or just any known fencers trying to pay off a big debt?”

“Trophy wives.” Julian repeated thoughtfully, and reshuffled the folders. “There’s an autopsy report here for a Charles Richards. He was found poisoned last week, sitting at his desk at City Hall. The detective in charge suspected the wife – sounds like she was leaving him.”

“You think it’s related?” Barry reached for the file and Julian nodded.

“Looks like it wasn’t poison, so much as venom.”

“We’ve got to notify the detective.” Barry skimmed the file quickly. “They might want to get Joe or another Meta squad member working the case with them.”

“I think we have to notify all of them right _now._ I talked to Detective Addie this morning; she was doing another interview with the wife and key staff members today.”

Barry cursed under his breath as the two of them ran for the stairs, itching to sprint past Julian and down to the interrogation rooms. He detoured by Eddie’s desk while Julian went on ahead. Joe and Eddie were comparing crime scene photos.

“We think the suspect Detective Addie is interviewing might be our snake Meta.” Both men leapt up from the desk, and followed Barry to the back of the precinct without question. Julian was already in the hallway, pounding on one of the doors and disturbing the shit out of every officer trying to question someone. Barry reached him just as Detective Addie opened the door.

“Can I help you, Alpert?” She stepped out of the room, opening the door wide enough that Barry could see the woman inside – who was as humbly clothed as Laura Ingalls and openly weeping into a handkerchief. Not a match to the woman the Jewelry store witness described. Barry wasn’t sure if that was good news or bad. “I’m trying to solve a murder case.”

“Is she from the Richards’ case? We think the murder is tied to the recent snake robberies.”

Detective Addie emerged the rest of the way from the room and closed the door, keeping her witness from hearing any more. “Mrs. Richards’ has a pretty solid alibi.” She nodded towards the waiting room. “The other witnesses are still waiting though.”

Barry’s head swiveled to the people clustered at the end of the hall. Two men in nice suits, both of whom he didn’t think they’d have much use for high end shoes and purses, unless they led very interesting night lives. A third man in baseball cap and hoodie was leaning against the vending machine, playing on his phone. Probably not many uses for pricey jewelry there, either. But the last person was a dark-haired woman wearing a very expensive watch, with earrings to match. And suddenly the last puzzle piece was fit.

She must have felt the weight of his gaze, because her head snapped up and their eyes locked and Barry just _knew._

“Joe?” He called back over his shoulder, not daring to look away. “Joe, I think we’ve found our Meta.” She stood up and smiled, the confidence in it gripping his stomach. He couldn’t disappear in the hallway in front of all these people and reappear as the Flash a second later. His coworkers were bound to put that together awfully fast. “Joe, I think we need…”

Cries of shock coming from the front interrupted him. More voices added to the din, making it sound like the officers were filming their own horror movie. Barry felt a brush at his ankle and looked down, and it took everything he had not to add his own voice to the soundtrack.

Snakes were emerging from the vents, and criss-crossing the floor at an alarming rate. The ones Barry could identify, were poisonous. It didn’t leave him with much hope for the ones he couldn’t. Who knew there were so many snakes living in and around Central City?

A snake wound around his ankle as the two men in the waiting room stood up on their chairs, screaming. The third man actually raised his phone, presumably filming the whole affair. The woman didn’t move, even when a python that was as thick as Barry’s bicep broke through a ceiling tile and stretched down beside her. Oh, to have Samuel Jackson around. Or at the very least, the reassuring panic of Cisco in his ear. Barry turned slowly, and a viper reared up at his left, giving a warning hiss.

Well damn. Unless he moved at Flash speed, he wouldn’t be moving at all. Maybe there was enough of a distraction from the snakes that no one would be looking at him. He glanced over his shoulder, trying to see where Julian and the Detective were facing.

“Joe?” Barry hissed, hoping his foster father or soon to be brother-in-law were at a better sight advantage. “Eddie?”

“Allen! Don’t move!” His prayers were kicked in the junk by Julian command-whispering from the doorway. “If you move, it’s going to strike.”

_Well ‘duh’._ It was apparent that every writhing body on the floor was posed to hold the building’s occupants hostage. They could only hope that once the Meta left the building, the snakes would relax enough that animal could come and rescue everyone. Or that Julian would blink long enough for Barry to change and then he could rescue everyone. They just all had to stay calm. A chill ran up Barry’s spine as he considered the damage that could be done if even just one person panicked and drew their gun. There wouldn’t be enough bullets to stop them all before someone was bit. And then he’d have no choice about using his speed.

Barry shivered again at the thought of how many people could get hurt before the Flash, (or a well-aimed bullet) could stop the snakes. It was giving him goosebumps.

Or not. His next slow breath out clouded in the air in front of him. It wasn’t the situation giving him chills, it was the actual room! Had someone turned up the air conditioning?

It was working – Barry could see the snakes nearest to him were starting to lie down, being lulled into complacency by the cold triggering their hibernation instincts. He waved Julian back, and his supervisor and the Detective were able to retreat safely back into the interrogation room. That was good. What was better were Joe and Eddie slowly moving up flank him.

“I’ve got a set of Meta cuffs on my belt.” Eddie kept his voice low. “If the snakes get sleepier, can you get them on her?”

“There’s still people watching.” Joe cautioned from the left. “Barry, if the snakes get a little calmer, Eddie and I are going to try to rush her. I’m hoping once the snakes can’t give her backup, she’ll surrender. I want you to gather the men and lead them down the hall towards the exit. If I’m wrong, at least we’ll have less civilians in the immediate line of fire.”

The viper that had been poised to attack Barry’s ankle was lying acquiescent, and there were only a few more lying between their current position and their goal. It was cold enough in the hall that Barry was beginning to miss the heavier of his sweater vests, and fought not to vibrate to warm himself.

“On my count.” Joe eased up the hall until he and Barry were side-by-side. Eddie moved up close behind them, walking on tip-toe to avoid the sleeping poisoners. “One.” Barry turned sideways, giving Eddie more room to jump between them and move in tandem with Joe. “Two.”

All three men crouched, ready to take the sprint. Barry gave his body a strict command to remain at reasonable human speed, even though it would be so much safer to give in to his Flash instincts. If only there could be a freak blackout. If only he could convince the witnesses to close their eyes. Maybe he should start carrying around a flash grenade like Piper.

“Three!”

Barry made the run down the hall in his best human time ever. Grabbing the arms of the two business men cowering on the chairs, he dragged them down the hallway to the emergency exit door. They needed no extra instructions, bursting through the door and setting off the fire alarm. Barry turned and ran back to the third man, who, _unbelievably,_ was still recording the snakes in the hallway, ignoring even the sight of Joe and Eddie wrestling with the screaming Meta and her python assistant.

“It’s going to be okay.” Barry grabbed the man by the arm, and pulled, hoping to encourage him to leave the amateur filming for another day. “If you come with me, we’ll get you out of the building and away from the snakes while the officers take care of the suspect.”

“My hero.” The nasally drawl nearly made Barry trip as the man raised his head to meet Barry with very familiar smirk. “But for once, you’re better off if I stick around awhile. I have a new toy,” he wiggled the cellphone in his hand and Barry finally noticed the device the size of a penlight clenched between the phone and the web of Len’s thumb. “And it’s doing its job of projecting my new cold field very well. You might actually want to take me on a tour of the precinct, that way we can make sure all the cold-blooded occupants present take a nice summer nap.”

“Why take you on a tour? I’m pretty sure you know the building better than anyone here.” Barry resisted the urge to bang his head against the vending machine. “I don’t suppose you’d let me borrow your cold-field-thingie?”  
“Nope.” That was pretty much the answer Barry had expected. “But I will happily keep it activated as you escort me to your office. We should probably take the long way around.”

_Goddammit._

“Len, please! If anyone catches you in here, I won’t be able to keep them from arresting you.” Barry pleaded in whispers, growing more and more nervous as Joe and Eddie succeeded in cuffing the Meta Medusa. He needed to get Leonard out of sight, _now._

“Then I suggest we go at a top speed more mine than yours.” Leonard casually offered Barry his arm. “Shall we?”

Taking his apparently _insane_ boyfriend by the elbow, Barry led him back down the hallway and into the lobby. “Slow down a minute, Scarlet.” Len kept his head down even though the officers present had much bigger problems to worry about than an inappropriate visitor. “Let’s le t the field kick in and do its work before we move on. And you might want to call animal control. Those fuckers won’t sleep forever.”

“Upstairs.” Barry nudged his incognito archenemy. “You can direct it downwards and hide in my lab. I’ll call from there.” He gingerly stepped over a coral snake that was slowly curling up to rest under someone’s desk.

“Sounds like a plan.” Leonard was all smiles as Barry escorted him across the main room and up the stairs. It was a damn good thing that all his coworkers had so much else to worry about. “I can’t wait to see your office.”

“It’s a shared office, so we have to be careful – Julian could pop in at any minute.”

“So, no making out directly on your desk. Got it.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“So we _can_ make out then? That’s good. I’d hate to have the whole you owing me your and all your friends lives thing hanging over our heads for very long.” Leonard counted the paces into the Lab and stopped just before the centrifuge, placing his cold generator on the floor (which actually did look like a penlight, albeit one that glowed electric blue at its end and was attached to a battery the size of a cellphone that had been hidden in Len’s pocket) business end down.

“Excuse you?”

“I rescued you. Doesn’t the hero usually get a reward?”

What Len was about to get was Barry’s foot applied straight to his ass. “Depends. Were you visiting me in the first place to try to make out with me for free, or did Miss Medusa downstairs beat you to the punch in making trouble?”

Leonard did everything but bat his eyes at Barry as he wrapped his arms around the speedster’s neck. “After our little phone call, I found that I missed you.” His mouth gave a tiny quirk. “I came to ask you to dinner. And maybe to show off my new toy.”

“I hope you planned for your demonstration to be with just the two of us.” Barry allowed his hands to skim up Leonard’s back. While it might have miffed him at the wording, it didn’t actually hurt to bring in some positive reinforcement to Leonard’s hero-ing. “It would hurt my feelings if you decided you needed to add more players to our game.”

Leonard pressed a kiss against his lips. “The game would have been for dessert. But maybe we’ll switch the order up a bit. We can play while the cold field does its work and puts the snakes to sleep, and then when animal control steps in to collect all the little buggers, you and I can go enjoy the afterglow with a decent meal. I’ve been stuck having nothing but Big Belly Burger for the last eight days.” Nimble fingers curled around Barry’s belt buckle. “And not having any privacy to dream up exactly what a hero’s reward might entail.”

“Well, just try to keep in mind that I can’t take you to the parking garage. There would be an audience.”

A sigh, and then Leonard dramatically rested his head on Barry’s shoulder. “I figured as much. And while I do love a good audience, I draw the line at cops. Reminds me too much of prison.”

Barry sputtered and Leonard spun away to claim Julian’s chair, deftly undoing Barry’s belt on the way. “So if we’re on the clock, I guess you’d better get your pants off.”

“Your sweet-talking skills need work.”

“And your gratitude could use an adjustment.” Len started rifling through Julian’s desk drawers. “But if you want a little more romance, I could be persuaded to dim the lights and jimmy open the vending machine.” He pulled out several boxes of tea, a leather notebook and a first aid kit, looking disappointed. “Your roommate here is even more straight-laced than you are. No emergency booze, no condoms. The nine-to-five here must be very boring.”

“I think you’d find any nine-to-five boring.” Barry retorted, and it made Len grin.

“Not if I was the boss.” Len patted his leg. “Why don’t you come sit on my lap and I’ll show you?”

Barry rolled his eyes, but straddled Len’s knee with a smile all the same. At least Len hadn’t come seeking trouble. He _had_ helped, and that was worth a lot. “Let me call animal control first, then we can make out a little. But the first sound of Julian at the door, and I’m going to have to speed us into the closet or something. He will not be happy that I have a guest.” Barry reached for the phone while Leonard busied himself undoing Barry’s pants. And thank goodness it was a quick call, because Len’s wandering fingers down the back of Barry’s shorts resulted in a small scream.

“Jesus, that’s cold!”

“Oh, believe me Scarlet, I’m _much_ larger.” The bastard was actually able to keep a straight face. Of course his hands would be cold. He’d been holding the cold field generator, after all. Barry lightly socked him in the shoulder.

“Such a brute.” The cold fingers grabbed Barry’s ass cheeks and gave a hard squeeze. “You want to play rough, Scarlet?” Leonard lifted Barry so he was sitting splayed on Julian’s desk. “I can be a Rogue for you if that’s what you want.” He had Barry’s pants halfway down Barry’s legs in no time. “I’m _really_ good at that.”

“Liar.” Barry’s sigh at his ear actually made Leonard pause. “You’re never nicer to me than when you’re trying to get me naked.” He nuzzled into Len’s neck as the other slowly resumed his fondling, gentler, much as Barry had affirmed. “You act rough as Cold, but you’re just marvelous as Leonard.”

Leonard pushed Barry backwards until they were both lying across the wooden surface, knocking the keyboard and pencil holder onto the floor. “Whatever you want then, _Barry._ ” Leonard palmed him through his shorts and then slid his hand under the waistband, making Barry’s stomach jump in anticipation. Fingers dipped low, neglecting the shaft that was rising in blatant interest at the ministrations and with a momentary pause to cup Barry’s balls and lewdly praise their weight, Leonard let his hand wander even lower and stroked Barry’s hidden entrance.

“I enjoyed the pictures you sent me.” Leonard caught Barry’s earlobe with his teeth and nipped, soothing the spot with his tongue quickly after. “It almost had me calling off the heist rehearsal so I could come climbing through your window after the good Detective had gone to bed.”

“That sounds like a great way to get yourself shot.” Barry panted, eyes fluttering shut while Leonard teased his hole, stroking and pressing but not pushing inside. “I mean, breaking and entering even at your boyfriend’s house still has to carry some risks.”

“Like you wouldn’t welcome me with open arms and legs.” Leonard chided teasingly, pressing just that much harder. Barry whimpered and arched his back, trying to press his hips down onto the offered digit. “Yes, just like that. Aren’t you a sweet boy.” Another nip at Barry’s jaw and Leonard wrapped his free arm around the back of Barry’s shoulders, pulling him close. “Why don’t I give you something to think about for your next close-up.”

Barry wrapped his arms around Leonard as the thief’s hand finally slid back up to free the tall column of Barry’s cock from his underwear. All it took was a few hard pumps and it had his tip weeping copiously; all Barry could do was hold onto the older man helplessly as he was stroked to his peak. Leonard knew how to press Barry’s buttons, and he used that advantage masterfully.

“Lift up your shirt,” Leonard pulled back a little, making it so they were no longer welded together. “I want to watch you play with your nipples while I make you come.”

Barry reddened. Oddly it was one thing to submit to Leonard’s demands at work but to become an active participant? “I can’t.”

“You can.” Leonard stopped his work and pushed Barry’s shirt up himself. “And you will, because I want you to.”

“But…but Julian could walk in anytime.” The protest was a weak one, and Barry knew it.

“Well, then let’s hope he likes to watch, because he’s not allowed to touch you. Every part of you is reserved for me.”

Then Leonard knelt and took Barry into his mouth, and Barry no longer really cared who might see them. As the head of his dick touched the back of Leonard’s throat he did exactly what he’d been told and slid a hand along his chest to toy with a pink bud that he so often left neglected.

Leonard pinched his calf and Barry jumped. He locked eyes with the man who was slowly inching his way back up for air. Leonard pinched him again, lightly this time and Barry got the message. He pinched his left nipple between forefinger and thumb, gasping at the small pain, and how it sent pulses of delight through him. Leonard hummed around him in appreciation and it was more than Barry could take.

He tried to warn Len, but his brain couldn’t form the words properly as his body gave the starting vibrations that signaled his release. Leonard didn’t even seem phased, he merely smiled around Barry’s cock and swallowed the tribute with a smug look. Barry was really going to have to start giving Leonard more vibrating blowjobs. He had to get back on more even footing with their games, or he would be at Len’s mercy forever.

“I don’t know if I was picture-perfect, but you sure were.” Barry laughed weakly as he fixed his underwear. His pants were still around his knees, but he needed another second to recover before he could manage them. “You going to let me take pictures of you while I get you off?”

Leonard bared his teeth in a fierce grin. “Only if you don’t take pictures of my face.”

It made Barry laugh. “Now I’ll have something to look forward to when I have alone time.”

Len smugly opened his mouth and stopped short – his expression changed completely and he stood quickly, grabbing at the first aid kit still on the desk.

Barry’s only excuse was that the sound of his heart pounding in his ears from his orgasm preventing him from hearing the click of the doorknob that had warned Leonard. And as fast as he was, the door was open and if he used his speed, it would be noticed. He was stuck, pants still at his knees, on Julian’s desk.

And boy, Julian did notice _that._

“Allen!”

While Barry flinched, Leonard removed a sealed length of gauze bandage and began wrapping it around his exposed upper thigh. “You’re lucky it was a dry bite. It probably hurts like a bitch and you should definitely keep it wrapped for a few days, but you shouldn’t have any other problems.”

“What’s going on here? Why did you go through my desk?” Julian looked incensed. Leonard tied off the bandage and gave the angry CSI a side eye.

“Your friend here was bitten by one of the Rattlers, and you were the only one with a fully stocked kit. Kudos to you.” Len kept his face in profile and his voice mild. Hopefully Julian would be too flustered at Barry’s semi-bare ass on his desk to actually look at the thief’s face. “Luckily it was just a warning strike and it didn’t inject any venom, so he doesn’t need an ambulance.”

“You’re a doctor then?” Julian’s voice dripped with suspicion. Leonard shook his head.

“I used to be an EMT. Now when I’m not reporting muggings, I administer first aid to cute guys.” Barry watched Julian’s face twitch imperceptibly at Leonard’s dig at what exactly the situation looked like. “Sorry about your desk. Maybe you should make sure there’s a first aid kit hanging on one of the walls in case one of you boys get a bad paper cut.”

Leonard stepped back and Barry grabbed for his pants, trying to look injured enough to fool Julian and yet salvage his dignity.

“I’d better go back downstairs and check if anyone else needs help.” Leonard lied smoothly, retrieving the cold field generator under the pretense of checking his shoe laces. He’d get downstairs and be out the backdoor in less than a minute, using the continued chaos of all the animal collection needed. “I’ll come back later once the station has dealt with its little pest problem.” Len shot Barry a wink. 

“Call me?”

“Ummm, yeah.” Barry stammered, aware that Julian was watching him with shock. “Later. Sometime.”

“I’ll see you soon.” Leonard waltzed out the door and before he’d even had the time to hit the stairs, Julian was turning to Barry with disapproval.

“And just how was any of that appropriate for the workplace, Allen?” Barry couldn’t even be bothered to listen to his vitriol.

“I called Animal Control about the snakes. Did Joe and Eddie get Meta Medusa into the cuffs?”

Julian rolled his eyes. “Yes. Apparently she is the former secretary and mistress of Councillor Richards. He traded up for a younger model, and she decided to use her new Meta powers to get some revenge and what she felt she deserved.” His voice took on a more sombre tone. “She’s already told Joe where we can find the other woman’s body. I have a feeling there’s going to be a few more we’ll be hearing about later, too.”

Sorrow settled in the pit of Barry’s stomach, chasing away the lingering pleasure of Len’s visit. He felt guilty for letting himself be seduced while other people were probably still panicking downstairs. So many people terrorized, even _killed_ and all over a bad breakup.

“I’ll get my kit and go with the detectives to the body.” Barry decided to help where he could. There was no way he was going to get out of sight enough to become the Flash; but if the police now had the situation under control, then the Flash wasn’t really needed. If the Meta’s powers were already dampened, then the snakes would be no longer under her control. So really, it was better than Barry stuck to his day job.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Julian gave a dubious glance to Barry’s leg. Of course, that would have to be played carefully.

“I’ll be more help there than I will be here chasing snakes.” Barry fibbed, only feeling a little guilty. After all, he’d taken care of at least a hundred snakes so far this week, the appropriate authorities could handle these ones. And he’d do a really thorough sweep during the night shift to make sure none of them got missed.

Best of all, being out of the building would allow him to send one or two sneaky texts to Leonard. After all his help, and his rewarding that had only gifted Barry with results, Barry did kinda owe him dinner. And probably an orgasm. Maybe even two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So anyone that's already watched season 3 knows what the debris' from, but I felt it had to start putting in an appearance or two now to set up for later. After all, we know what Julian was up to during this time. Can't wait for Barry and company to figure it out.
> 
> Wound up making up my own Snake handling Meta for this chapter instead of using an existing Flash/DC one because while there quite a few to choose from, I couldn't quite make one fit for what I wanted to do in the story. I was actually surprised that there were several - almost changed the murder motive to fit one of the really interesting ones.
> 
> And the smut is back! First Patty knew about Barry's boyfriend, and now Julian has some insight. Something tells me Barry's not going to be keeping his love life very secret for very much longer. ^_^


	10. Mother Mae(ta) I?

Eyes watering, Barry slowly brought his lips down to the base of where Leonard’s thick cock met his body, watching with glee as Leonard fought not to squirm. He was triumphant in his discomfort – it had taken three tries, three abortive attempts where Leonard had been extremely appreciative and patient, but he had finally managed to deep throat the older man. 

His request (or would it have been an offer?) to practice had been met with an enthusiastic invitation to Leonard’s sometimes safehouse. Barry had arrived in surprise to an older house in a decent neighbourhood. He had honestly been expecting Leonard to be squatting in an abandoned building, or have an apartment on the wrong side of town.

But no. It was an honest-to-God, two-storey, white-picket-fence type house. (Okay, the fence was chain link, but it still counted.) Barry had been ushered in the door with his mouth gaping in disbelief. He’d been led straight to the bedroom, so he hadn’t been given a grand tour or anything, but the furniture he’d seen on the way looked old. Clean, and well maintained, but old. 

It made Barry wonder if the bed he and Leonard were currently rolling on was Leonard’s childhood bed, and if the remark Leonard had made the night Barry’s father had left was connected to it.

If so, Barry was determined to make sure this experience surpassed it. He vibrated his vocal chords, adding that little bit extra to his suction. Leonard let out a strangled moan and clutched roughly at Barry’s hair, and Barry had to pull back a little as Leonard tried to thrust deeper.

Barry cast a gaze back up at the older man, who was looking more and more wrecked as the process wore on. The great Captain Cold, straining against a faded duvet and struggling not to plead for more of Barry’s growing talents. Barry smirked to himself starting to realize why Leonard was always so eager to have Barry under his tongue. Pleasing someone to helplessness was a powerful feeling – and it was going to make Barry cum untouched even by his own hand. Hopefully after Leonard gave up, but the pressure building between his legs was getting to the breaking point. 

Barry dipped his head back down, making sure to drag his tongue down the shaft as he went. He buried his nose into the dark curls that peeked out of the fly of Len’s boxers, the older man still staying (mostly) dressed for their games. Leonard was going to cum first this time. Barry had his pride, after all.

Leonard released the death grip he’d been keeping on Barry’s silky locks and slid the hand down Barry’s cheek, wiping away a stray tear that emerged from the effort it took not to choke. The same gentle fingers stroked Barry’s jaw lovingly, and Barry gave a little vibrating purr. Len gave a gasp and pushed his thumb into Barry’s mouth, giving him the space to pull his cock free.

“You keep that up, and your little bout of practice is going to end a lot sooner than you were planning.”

“Why Captain Cold, is that begging I hear?” Barry taunted, and gave Leonard a wicked grin, which he immediately ruined by coughing. “I can give you a faster ending if you want one.” His voice only cracked a little, hoarse from all his good work.

“I’m not begging you to let me cum, I’m saying that if you don’t want me to cum until you’re ready, vibrating any part of your body is not going to slow the process any.” Leonard gave a strained version of his normal drawl, hand gripping his shaft tightly to prevent the inevitable.

“And here I was going to offer to finger you on the next round.” Barry slyly held up a hand and let it vibrate, teasing Len with the possibilities.

Leonard groaned again, and Barry noticed the increased moisture at the older man’s tip. A sure sign Barry was on the right track. He licked it off slowly and tugged at Len’s jeans, still only pulled partway down his thighs. “I can vibrate my finger while it’s inside of you, and vibrate my throat while you’re inside of it.” Barry crooned to a clearly deliberating Len. “And I promise I’ll keep doing it until you cum.”

“I don’t think I can – I mean, if you do all that I will, but I think if you do I’m going to fuck your mouth and you won’t like that in the middle of practice.” Leonard growled out a jumbled warning. “If you just want me to blow down your throat on your terms, better just stick with using your mouth.”

Barry rubbed his cheek against the head of Leonard’s dick teasingly. “What if I just don’t go down so deep? That way if you do start to thrust, I’ll be able to pull back before you get too far.” He wiggled his eyebrows mischievously. “Super-fast reflexes, remember?”

Leonard looked tempted. So tempted. “It’s probably time to give your new skills a rest anyways. Overuse is the fastest way to a strain.”

Barry fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Yes. Let’s make this next blowjob all about _protecting me._ ” It made Leonard laugh.

“At least we think about it sometimes, right?” Leonard stretched to the left, reaching towards the lone rickety nightstand. “I have lube in the top drawer.”

He tossed the bottle to Barry, who would have caught it if his phone hadn’t chosen that exact moment to ring, startling him off his aim and causing the bottle to sail past his wrist.

“Shit!” Barry used his speed and caught it on the bounce as it ricocheted off his shoulder.

Leonard propped himself up on one elbow worriedly. “Do you need to get that?”

“No, I have special ringtones for the precinct and the Flash Alarm. That’s just a normal call, they can leave a message.” Barry tossed the lube from hand to hand, straddling Leonard in what he hoped was a seductive manner. “Now where were we?” The phone stopped, finally going to voicemail.

Leonard slid out from under Barry, adjusting his pants. “I think it would be easiest if I was standing – “ Barry’s phone rang again, and both men turned towards it in annoyance. Barry took a quick peek as it went to voicemail again.

“It’s just Iris.” He mumbled embarrassedly. “I’ll just turn the phone off for now.” It went off for a third time and Leonard threw up his hands.

“Better just answer it. If it’s an emergency, then you should deal with it. If it’s a social call, tell her your mouth has better uses at the moment.”

“I bet you wouldn’t say that to _your_ sister.” Barry muttered and connected the call. “Hey Iris. What’s up?”

“Barry! I need your help.”

Barry came right back on alert. “What’s wrong? Are you in trouble? Do you need me to speed over?”

“No, no, no. I’m fine. I just need help trying to decide which photographer to use for the wedding. Can I send you the links for the four best ones, and you can take a look? I know you do some photography for crime scenes.”

“I-I don’t think that makes me qualified to judge others.” Barry stammered, locking eyes with a disbelieving Len. “Shouldn’t Eddie be helping you with this?”

“I didn’t like the one he picked.” Barry made a choked sound, and Iris turned defensive. “Bare! We have to have a good photographer, not someone who just likes to post pictures of their coffee on Instagram!”

Barry face-palmed and flopped backwards onto Leonard’s bed. “And you think I’m the right person to help with this, _why?_ ”

“Because you’re the maid of honor, silly.” Iris huffed.

“ _What?!_ ” Barry’s eyes popped back open just as Leonard grabbed him by the waist and rolled him onto his stomach. And now he had the quandary of whether to be worried more about what his boyfriend was planning or what his best friend was.

“Well, _man_ of honour. Whatever you want to call it. You’ll be on my side of the wedding party. Eddie hasn’t picked a best man yet. Dad has to walk me down the aisle, so he’s trying to decide whether to ask one of his cousins, or if he should ask Ronnie or Cisco.”

“Uh, okay. Well, I’m honoured then. Thank you.” Barry shot a glance over his shoulder at Leonard as he felt his pants and boxers being dragged down to his knees. He wasn’t sure what the thief was planning, but he did not want to talk to Iris about her wedding with his ass hanging out. “But I think we should talk about this later. It’s kind of a bad time for me.”

“Bare-reeeeee.” He could practically hear Iris pouting. And he could definitely hear the wet _shlick_ of Leonard stoking lube down his cock, which gave him a powerful flutter of excitement deep in his stomach. “I really need your help on this.”

“I-I’m on a date Iris. I’m being really rude right now.” Leonard’s weight settled over him and Barry tried to reach back to slow Leonard from his unknown goal. 

“ _Are_ you? Like, a real _date_ date? With who? Do I know her? Oh, my God, please tell me it’s Patty.” Iris sounded beside herself with excitement. A sharp pinch to his left ass cheek made Barry jump, and Leonard took hold of the wrist of his flailing hand and pinned it back up by his head. 

Barry was quick to cover the mouthpiece of the phone. “What the hell are you doing?” He started to roll onto his side and Leonard yanked the bottom of his t-shirt up over his head, entrapping his arms. Now in a cottony cocoon with the phone still at his ear, Barry couldn’t see or hear what Leonard was up to.

“Or is it the genius girl you met when you went to Starling City? You know, the pretty one with the glasses that did Trivia night with us. What was her name? Felicia?”

“Felicity.” Barry corrected automatically, finding it hard to wiggle free without being able to see what direction would take them both clear off the bed. Fingers took hold of his ass cheeks, pulling them apart and Barry realized he had to end the conversation _fast_. “And no, it’s not her. I’m with – my boyfriend.” And if Iris was surprised, Barry missed it, because the sensation of Len’s thick cock sliding between his cheeks stole his senses. For a moment the only thing that existed was the hot friction rubbing against his hole and spreading a slick wetness along the cleft of his ass up to his back and down again. Barry writhed under Leonard, pushing up and back into him, wordlessly demanding more of the same.

“Your boyfriend.” Iris repeated slowly, as though the concept was foreign to her. Which it shouldn’t have been, both of them had giggled together about boys in high school. “You didn’t tell me – how long have you had a boyfriend?”

“Can I call you back tonight?” Another stroke from Leonard had Barry’s eyes rolling back in his head. “I really have to go.”

Leonard’s disembodied laugh came through the fabric shroud, and Barry prayed Iris couldn’t hear it. “Don’t you mean, ‘ _I have to come_ ’?” And for the briefest of seconds he pressed the wide tip of his cock against Barry’s opening, paralyzing the younger man with shock and lust.

“Bye!” Barry cut off Iris’ protests with a frantic button mash as Leonard pulled back. He wiggled to free his head from the neck of his T-shirt, and Len pushed down on his shoulder, holding him in place.

“Stay right where you are, Scarlet. I have plans for you.”

“More practice?” Barry panted, pushing his hips back against Leonard’s instruction and was rewarded with the sound of a shaky groan from the other man. “My offer still stands.”

“We’re beyond practice.” Leonard leaned down and traced the delicate shell of Barry’s ear with his tongue, cock still sliding wetly between them. “I’m too far gone for that. Instead, I’m going to rub one out on your perfect ass, and if you’re a good boy and let me, I’ll clean you up with my tongue.”

The offer hit Barry with a bolt of arousal so powerful, he vibrated and Len cried out above him, cock still nestled sweetly between the speedster’s cheeks. The first hot splash of cum hit Barry mid-back, and he couldn’t help but deliberately continue to provide Len with his particular sort of friction. The satisfaction of hearing Len gasp and curse above him, the knowledge that he had foiled another master plan and had brought Len into a well-earned release was intoxicating.

“Guess I’m not as good a boy as you’d think.” Barry couldn’t resist taunting the thief.

“Then I’ll treat you like a bad one,” Leonard huffed, and wrestled Barry onto his back. Barry lay submissive with fascination as the older man finished drawing his pants and boxers down and off his legs, fully exposing Barry to his appreciative gaze. A finger ran down the hot column of Barry’s shaft, teasing a quick pulse of pre-cum to drip on his belly. “Since you ruined my plan for a good tongue-lashing.“

“Like you’re not giving me a metaphorical one now.” Barry muttered, interrupting Len’s monologue and getting a flick to the thigh that made him yelp.

“I think a good stretch will get a quick attitude adjustment.” Leonard smirked and pulled the speedster’s hips up into his own lap, resting Barry’s lower body on his knees. Barry’s hips were canted up at an angle that put his hole at easy access to the thief’s wickedly wonderful fingers. They ran around the rim, playing with the different lubricants he’d already provided, both teasing and torturing Barry with the promise of sliding inside. “But sadly, I keep the rack in my other safehouse, so my fingers will have to do.” He leered down at his dripping little speedster. “Or did you want to try the dildo I keep in the nightstand?”

“If you think stuffing me full of your fingers is going to keep me from vibrating, then I think you haven’t been paying attention to how much I appreciate your talents.” Now Barry was the one with a death grip on his shaft, trying to keep from ending the show early. “But if you wanted to try something different, I’d rather try your dick.”

Heart pounding in his throat, Barry watched for Leonard’s reaction nervously. They hadn’t really brought up the topic of anal sex since the pipeline months ago. Both of them had been quite content to keep their trysts focused on the use of mouths and hands. But the idea had been invading Barry’s fantasies more and more since Leonard had started texting him dream contents every morning. The sandman was either incredibly generous to Leonard, or the man woke up every day with the goal of “sexually torment boyfriend” and succeeded every day before he’d even had his morning coffee.

Leonard sucked in a breath. “Damn, if you’d said something earlier, I wouldn’t have finished so soon. It’s going to be a minute before I can go again.” He stroked Barry’s inner thighs lovingly, smiling at how Barry tried to thrust up into the cradle his fingers made around Central City’s most valuable jewels. “But I guess that just gives me more time to open you up. Lucky you, it looks like I’m going to be eating you out after all.”

Barry couldn’t stop the whimper that popped out of his mouth as Leonard rolled him off his legs while reaching for the discarded bottle of lube. Snatching up the spare pillow, Leonard coaxed Barry back onto his stomach, propping his hips up for display.

Then unexpectedly, Leonard crawled back over him to mold their bodies back together and press his lips against Barry’s ear.

“And just to let you know, if this doesn’t do it for you, I’m willing to practice _all_ my skills until we find something that does.” He rolled off to the side and Barry could hear him rummaging back through the drawer, and the crinkle of foil that accompanied it. A hot flush swept through Barry at all the implications and the care. It only made him want Len more. To have him so close and deep that they wouldn’t be able to tell where one of them ended and the other began, if for only awhile. His eyelids fluttered shut at the deep peace of the idea.

And then typically, at the worst possible moment, the Flash Alarm sounded.

Barry leapt from the bed, gently maneuvering Len into a safe position instead of knocking him to the floor and in a ten thousandth of a second was dressed and out the door. (Pausing only to scribble “sorry!” on a discarded envelope and stick it on the pillow where his head had previously been.)

In another nanosecond he was in and out of S.T.A.R. Labs kitted up in the Flash suit and speeding towards Downtown, praying that the energy he’d expend during the run would take care of his erection, or the bystanders were going to get an eyeful. The Flash suit was not a forgiving fashion choice.

Though when Barry reached his destination, it was shockingly obvious that no one was going to be looking at him for a good long time.

Main Street was in the process of reverting back into the forest it had been built from over a century ago. Anything and everything made out of wood was sprouting new growth; park benches turning into full trees, decorative planters sprouting enough flora to cover a rainforest – it was actually very beautiful. If only it was happening at a park instead of in the middle of a busy road, it would have been magnificent.

But it wasn’t and the roots that were rapidly emerging from the asphalt were as deadly as an earthquake.

Barry made his first priority to zip through the lanes redirecting traffic where he could, snatching up motorists in peril when he couldn’t. A few quick blockades of nearby intersections soon had the streets clear.

As Barry watched the trees retake the storefronts and pipes began to burst through the sidewalk. He cast a frantic eye at the various bystanders – where was the Meta? There was no one standing in the street loudly monologuing about Deforestation, no thieves looting shops as window after window gave way to tree branches.

There was however, a crowd of rubberneckers that didn’t have the good sense to flee the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Flash in action. The Meta had to be hiding among them.

He zipped over, to the delight of the selfie artists and started gently pushing his way through the people. He smiled politely, but ignored all the requests for handshakes, pointedly looking for the one person that _didn’t_ want to meet the Flash today. 

And that person was well disguised. As the flora burst around the street, branches beginning to entangle power lines, Barry began to worry that he wouldn’t find the Meta before he had to relocate all the looky-loos to safety.

Barry was so busy looking up at all the camera wielding adults that he failed to notice the only child of the group; a little girl with badly neglected pig tails dressed in a Van Halen T-Shirt that was large enough to be a full length dress on her. Barry missed her completely until the second he nearly tripped over her.

“Oh! Sorry!” Barry knelt so he could be more on her level. “Are you okay? Where’s your mom?” Hopefully no one was so hurt that they’d lost track of their child. 

The little girl took no notice of him, concentrating on a patch of sidewalk. He followed her gaze and was dumbfounded to see a dandelion plant force its way between the cracks in the concrete, and double exponentially in size until it was the height of a refrigerator.

“No way.” The whisper popped out of Barry before he could stop it. Every trouble causing Meta he’d fought so far had been past voting age. Surely there was some sort of age requirement that fate had for supervillains, right? A sort of “you must be this tall to try to kill the Flash” bar.

If not, he was so screwed. He was not going to zap a kindergartener with lightning, even if they destroyed the city and raised an army of man-eating Venus fly-traps.

“Hey,” Barry tried again, hoping he could talk this one out. “What are you doing?”

The girl blinked and looked up at him, startled. And for one second, all the plants stopped growing. The plant pandemonium halted, just like that. It was a confirmation that Barry wasn’t all too glad to see. “Are you making all the plants grow so big? That’s really neat, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep doing it here. Someone could get hurt.”

“Oh my God, it’s a kid.” He heard the crowd begin to murmur. That wasn’t what Barry wanted either. He wasn’t sure that no one would try for a little mob justice with the Meta-of-the-week being so much smaller.

“Where’s your mom? Or your dad? Did you come here with someone?” He was deeply hoping that this could all be fixed with a chat between the CCPD, S.T.A.R. Labs, and a parent or two.

The Mini-Meta blinked and looked at the growing crowd with some trepidation. Then her eyes locked onto a wooden store sign and it began to sprout fresh branches.

“Stop her!” A voice rant out in the crowd and Barry slipped into the zone where everything moved in slow motion but him. A bottle lazily arced up in the air, with the girl at the end of its trajectory. He could see a rock slowly leaving the hand of another rubbernecker, and Barry knew that he had run out of time; if they stayed, he would be fighting a Meta and a riot.

So he did what all normal logic screamed at him not to do: he picked up the child and ran. He carried her all the way back to S.T.A.R. Labs and into the pipeline. For good measure, he went back and grabbed Caitlin as well, locking all three of them in a cell and engaging the Meta Dampeners.

As the familiar hum turned on, the little girl woke up from dedicated, destructive fog she’s been in and _screamed_.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! Shhh,” Caitlin soothed, reaching for the young girl and holding her in her arms. “You’re safe. I know this is a scary room but we had to get you to stop before someone got hurt. But this is a safe place. The police and the Flash work here all the time.” She stroked the tangled mess of the mousey hair atop the little Meta’s head. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“Chrysanthemum.” The little floral felon’s lower lip started to tremble. “Why did you stop me? Mommy-Jo said that I had to scare all the people away for Dennis. She’s going to be so mad.”

“Chrysanthe – Chrys? Can I call you Chrys?” When she nodded, Barry sat on the floor beside her in Caitlin’s lap. “Where’s Mommy-Jo right now? I can talk to her and tell her it was me that made you stop.” And hopefully find out what the hell was going on.

Tears started pooling beneath her lashes. “I don’t know where she went. She said I had to stay there until they came back and that I had better be alone. I have to go back or she’ll be mad. You can’t make Mommy-Jo mad.”

“Your mom sounds like a real peach.” Barry muttered, choosing a more PG word than how he felt. Caitlin shot him a look.

“We can take you home and talk to Mommy-Jo for you.” Caitlin offered, rubbing Chrys’ back gently. “But we can’t let you scare any more people with your powers, Chrys. Someone could get hurt. You could get hurt. You have amazing powers, but the important thing is to know where you can use them a lot or can only use them a little. Like the way the Flash does.” She nodded at Barry who gave an encouraging thumbs up. “When you learn to do that, that’s when you do amazing things.”

Chrys played with the hem of the oversized T-shirt, which emphasized how small she really was. “Mommy-Jo isn’t my mom. She says we have to stay with her until our real mummy gets out of the drug hospital. And she says that everyone that stays with her has to work. It makes her happy.”

“And your job is to scare people? For Dennis?” Barry slowly tried to puzzle out what Mommy-Jo was trying to accomplish. Child labour could be so confusing.

“No, I had to scare them away so Dennis can work.” Chrys corrected him. “Mommy-Jo wanted it to be quiet for him.”

“Chrys, is Dennis a Meta too?” The little girl nodded. “What are his powers?”

“He can move metal things.” Chrys announced proudly. “Mommy-Jo taught him how to unlock locks and everything.”

“Uh, Flash?” Cisco’s voice crackled over the intercom system. “Isn’t there a Safe Deposit Vault facility on that street?” Barry and Caitlin locked eyes. “I’m thinking maybe you want to go back down and make sure that everything is okay.”

That was a great idea. As soon as Barry heard the click of Cisco unlocking the door he jumped and ran back to the centre of all the chaos. Police had started arriving, and he did a quick search until he found Joe and Eddie taking witness statements.

“Detectives? He called over, hoping to get the two of them out of earshot of anyone else. “I have a lead on the next area you need to search.”

“Did you see something in an area recon Flash?” Joe wasn’t stupid, he could see all the cameras aimed their way. “Or did you encounter the Meta responsible?”

“I have on good authority that an adult may be coercing a young child with powers over metal.” Barry tried to sound professional to the audience. “I’ve been advised I should check out the Safe Deposit Box Vault next to the Bakery. I’d appreciate it if you’d come along.”

Joe waved over another officer to continue with the bystanders and reached for his radio. He followed Barry and Eddie (at human speed) down the street as he alerted dispatch to their change in position.

Going down the small concrete stairway, they reached the lower level of the shopping district without incident. It looked like a National Park had been dropped in from a spaceship with terrible aim. It was as deserted as Chrys had been ordered, so it felt a little like they had entered a B-movie and were waiting for the killer in a hockey mask to appear.

Stopping at the doorway to the vault’s storefront, Joe took point, drawing his gun. Barry nearly face-palmed. He hadn’t been clear enough on the street.

“I don’t think you’ll need that.” He gestured to all the firepower. “I think the Meta is another little kid – we already have one that supersized all the plants at S.T.A.R. Labs.”

“A kid?” Eddie whispered, horrified. “There are kids with powers now? What are we going to do, we can’t start popping children into Iron Heights.”

“I guess we’ll have to start some new after-school clubs,” Barry laughed. “S.T.A.R. Labs is about to become valuable to the city again.”

“Cisco’s Meta-Dampeners are going to have to become a normal school and nursery size.” Joe shuddered at the implications. “The terrible twos is going to be a whole new thing.”

Eddie peeked around the corner and held up two fingers. Nodding to Barry and mouthing, ‘yeah, a kid”, he holstered his weapon and pulled out his badge, holding it high and clear.

“Police! This is the CCPD. Stop what you’re doing, and put your hands on your head.” Eddie commanded as he stepped into view. Joe and Barry followed, getting a first look at the Meta-in-training. A woman with badly dyed red hair was holding the hand of a little boy would couldn’t have been more than four years old. Box doors were handing off their hinges, some crumpled and twisted beyond repair. Their contents were likely in the duffel bags spread around the floor.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the child.” Joe approached the woman slowly, pulling out his cuffs. “Son, how would you like to go stand with the Flash? I’m sure he has some cool tricks he can show you.”

Barry nodded encouragingly and held out his hand. Dennis had the same blank look on his face that had been on Chrys’ when Barry had first stumbled over her, and he gave Barry exactly the same amount of attention. It rang a warning bell with Barry; not one of the suspicious headaches he’d been having that seemed to precede disaster. It was just something that didn’t sit right – normally the Flash’s red outfit was like catnip for children, the same as firetrucks and race cars. The fact that he’d been outright ignored twice – well, either he’d become run-of-the-mill a lot faster than he’d thought possible, or it really did take a lot to entertain kids these days. Or something was wrong. Really, really wrong.

As Joe reached for the woman’s wrist, she smiled at him tenderly. “Now sugar, you don’t want to be hurtin’ Mama-Jo while we’re getting our business done, do you? I think you’d rather just sit tight and help us fill these bags.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Barry’s jaw dropped as Joe smiled and bent to empty more drawers, shovelling random papers and the odd velvet jewelry box into the carry-ons.

“Uhhhh, Detective West?” Barry’s eyes darted around, unbelieving. “What are you doing?”

Eddie went to redraw his weapon, and Mama-Jo stopped him with a wag of her finger. “I don’t think so, Mister. Why don’t you pick Dennis up so he can focus on the higher boxes? Be a helper, just like I know you can be!”

And just like that, Eddie knelt to hoist the little boy up into his arms and lift him towards the top tier of drawers. What the hell was going on?

“Okay, I think everyone should just stop what they’re doing.” Barry held up both hands soothingly. The last thing he needed was an upset Meta, since everyone in the room (except for him) had clearly lost their minds. “We’re going to put everything back where we found it, and then maybe we should stop for lunch?”

A foolish statement, but how was he supposed to get the attention of one wacko adult, two brainwashed ones and one small child without freaking the hell out of any of them.

Mama-Jo turned to Barry and gave him her fake, showing-far-too-many-teeth smile, making him clench. “Oh, Flash Darlin’? Would you be a dear and take these bags out to the car?” She jangled a set of keys at him.

A warm buzz flitted across Barry’s temples, and he shook his head. It was like the comms had developed a small short. “Cisco?”

His earpiece crackled to life. “Yeah?”

“Something’s going on with Joe and Eddie. Has Chrys mentioned anything about being brainwashed?”

“Dude, isn’t she like, six? I don’t think she’d know what being brainwashed _is_. Are Joe and Eddie brainwashed?”

The two men were still busy helping rob the vault so…….”Yeah, I think so.”

The brainwash-er was starting to frown, deep wrinkles of concentration appearing in her forehead. That little buzz flitted across Barry’s forehead, like a mosquito was trying to get through his cowl. It was easier to ignore the second time. Maybe adult Metas were immune?

“Okay, this is going to be more like how we used to work, but….” Barry darted in and grabbed Joe’s anti-Meta cuffs, snapping them around Mama-Jo’s wrists. As she started to scream in wordless anger, Barry swung around, pushing off the wall and caught Dennis as he began to slip from Eddie’s arms – the two of them startling away from each other as they woke up.

“Detective Thawne, would you mind reading Mama-Jo her rights?” Barry stared down at a bewildered Dennis, who obviously couldn’t decide whether to start crying or to try to pull Barry’s cowl off using the eye hole. “I think I should take Dennis to S.T.A.R. Labs to be with his sister. Detective West, would you mind calling social services?”

Joe was looking down at all the bags he was carrying. “Sure. As soon as we get the situation under control here.” He shook his head to clear it and slowly put down the spoils. “And I explain why my fingerprints are all over the evidence.”

“I have a feeling that Caitlin’s going to want to run some tests on all of us.” Barry shifted Dennis so he was cradled more securely. “I’m pretty sure Mama-jo is able to brainwash people – maybe kids are the most susceptible? She whammied you and Eddie, and I think she tried to get me too, but it didn’t work. Maybe she didn’t have enough juice to do that many people?”

“Whatever she did, she’s got to be put in Iron Heights fast.” Joe rubbed at his forehead. “It was like being back home and running to get my room clean before Grandma Esther tanned my hide. I’d hate to see her getting the Mayor to run the city like he was trying to convince his mama that he was responsible enough to get a puppy.”

Barry shuddered at the idea of Mama-Jo “mothering” _anyone_ and quietly vowed that S.T.A.R. Labs was going to start funding programs form more than just Meta children. Giving Dennis a bright smile that he definitely wasn’t feeling at the moment, he adjusted his grip on the boy. “I hope you like racing Dennis. I’m going to run us super-fast all the way to S.T.A.R. Labs so we can hang out with Chrys and all the cool scientists.”  
Dennis looked up at him cautiously from under his lashes and plucked at the Flash Logo on Barry’s chest. “Hungry.” He mumbled. He was as skinny as his sister, which again was emphasised by the too large clothes. Barry wondered if Mama-Jo had fed them lunch before bringing them out to commit larceny.

“You’re in luck. S.T.A.R. Labs has an in with Big Belly Burger.” Barry was only half-lying – he was there so often to buy dinner that three different (and very cute) cashiers often threw in free drinks and desserts with his order. He idly wondered if the Flash could get free food for life if he offered to do a commercial for them. “Let’s meet up with your sister and order some burgers.”

“I want chicken –“ Barry zipped the two of them across Central City before Dennis could even blink. “Nuggets.” The little boy finished his sentence bewilderedly as Barry set him down inside the greenhouse the Cortex had turned into.

It looked like Cisco and Caitlin were testing Chrys’ abilities in a “don’t-endanger-the-public” sort of way. Ronnie was setting out every plant pot, bucket and empty coffee cup they had for Cisco to patiently fill with dirt, seeds and water and pass to Chrys. The little girl would barely have to touch the container before green shoots would start emerging from the top.

Her glee as the plants rapidly budded and exploded into colour was contagious. Both men were smiling at each outburst of laughter and Caitlin was admiring a large spray of peonies as she filled up another pitcher of water.  
Chrys jumped up at their arrival and Barry swore that all the flowers minutely turned his way like they were following the sun. “Dennis! Look at all the colours!” She bounced from foot to foot. “There are so many different kinds! I love it here!”

Dennis pulled away from Barry and joined her in playing in the dirt. Barry headed over to Caitlin. “I’m going to get some food for the kids. Joe’s going to contact social services for them and see about finding them somewhere safe. Can you find a way to test them for proof they were brainwashed? If we can prove this is all Mama-Jo’s fault, it will make their lives so much easier.”

Caitlin hesitated. “I don’t want to put them through too much more today. If we can figure out what the brainwashing markers in Eddie and Joe or even you are, _then_ I’ll test the children for them.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Barry did a quick costume change, head to triple B where he ordered all the chicken nuggets their fryers could hold and milkshakes. A run back to S.T.A.R. Labs and a jump back into his red suit, and he was the hero of the hour again. The whole team sat down to eat and debate whether it was better to dip the fries in the milkshakes or excess nugget sauces.

When Joe arrived, Dennis and Chrys were both napping off a fast-food coma on one of the cots, and Ronnie was using Chrys’ flowers to freshen up the lobby.

“I need a blood sample from you.” Caitlin whispered to him loudly across the room. “I need to see if the Meta issued any chemicals that helped brainwash you. And if you have the time, and MRI might help too.”

“Blood, yes, time, no.” Joe started rolling up his sleeve. “But I can come back later and do one for you then. I’ll let the Captain know that you’re collecting medical evidence for the case. We may have to run it by Alpert later, but I’ll make sure it’s classified legit.”

“Thank you.” Caitlin efficiently snapped on a pair of gloves and drew three vials of Joe’s blood. “At least comparing yours and –“ her eyes snapped towards the sleeping children. “The Flash’s blood, we can get a preliminary idea of what the Meta was manipulating in your biology.”

She took the sample back to the counter that held Barry’s own, drawn earlier to the fascinated horror of the children. Barry watched her prepare a slide of Joe’s blood out of the corner of his eye while he handed Joe one of the milkshakes.

Joe took it gratefully. “The Meta’s name is Joanne Simmons. We sent a car out to her address. She had three more foster kids at home with her husband.”

The horror of her having more victims twisted Barry’s stomach. “Are they all okay?”

Joe grimaced, and stirred the milkshake with the straw. “None of them show any obvious injury, but social services took them to the hospital all the same. I’ll notify them to save the blood samples for when Caitlin knows what to test them for.”

“And the husband?”

“So far he’s in police custody, but he wasn’t looking to clear when he was picked up. They’re running a drug test on him, but it might be just as well for Caitlin to test his blood too.”

So many victims. And probably more that they didn’t know about, people that just crossed her path once and were whammied to make her life momentarily easier. Barry suppressed a shudder.

“That’s it. It’s so simple!” A burst of surprise from Caitlin turned the heads of both men. She was standing at the microscope, bringing the results on screen. Barry could instantly see the traces of dark matter in the blood. The wash of chemicals that Caitlin had added was making whatever it was attached to stand out brilliantly.

“What is it?” Barry asked, fascinated. 

“It looks like the Meta-mom saturated Joe’s blood with Oxytocin and Serotonin. Those are hormones that are stimulated by the connection between a parent and child, or between people who are,” Caitlin gave a slight blush, “romantically involved. That’s probably part of the brainwashing power – her victims feel such a deep rush of connection to her that they’ll do anything she says.”

Joe finished his milkshake. “And that’s why Eddie and I stopped following orders. Listening to our “mother” superseded obeying the Captain.” He sighed. “Oh, we are in for a batch of “your mama” jokes that I don’t even want to guess at.”

“So why couldn’t she brainwash me?” Barry stared up at the screen in fascination. “Was it because Joe was there, and she couldn’t “mother” someone who already had a parent with them?”

Caitlin hesitated and then split the screen, bringing up a second sample to compare. It had also been treated with the same chemical, and the effect was much of the same, minus all the dark matter.

“Based on the degradation of the hormones, your blood already contained a significant amount of both chemicals before you encountered the Meta. She wasn’t able to flood your system because you’d already been…..stimulated naturally.”

Barry felt his cheeks begin to burn. This would teach him to keep his mouth shut. “Oh. Well, that’s interesting.”

“It is.” Joe gave him the side eye. “Especially since I seem to recall you having too many responsibilities to ask anyone out on a date right now.” Barry would have happily swallowed his tongue and choked to death on the floor if that would have helped him escape the conversation. “So was that true, or did you have a secret that you didn’t want Iris to post on the news blog?”

The last part was said teasingly, and Barry’s embarrassment at being found out started to slide into guilt that he’d been caught lying. “It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you, it’s just that…..it’s a little different this time.”

“Oh?” Joe kept his voice bland, but Barry still squirmed like he was back in high school. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Caitlin discreetly watching them, and remembered that there would be a lot more people possibly angry with his choice of partner than just his second father. But it was going to be a lot worse if he kept lying……

“Um, because, it’s not Patty.”

“I gathered that. Can I ask who she is?” Joe waited. Barry wilted

“Well, you see…..she is actually….a he?” Barry swallowed. This shouldn’t be a problem. Joe knew he was bisexual. Did Caitlin? Barry wasn’t sure he’d ever told Cisco or Caitlin. He’d just never dated a man in front of Joe. Would that make a difference in knowing versus seeing?

“Okay.” Joe remained almost unnaturally neutral. “And are we ever going to meet _him_?”

“Well – “

“You have a boyfriend?” Chrys’ voice excitedly cut into the conversation and Barry jumped a mile. At least they’d all remembered not to call him by his name, just in case. Even Barry could be guilty of that in the best of circumstances.

“Uncle Mark has a boyfriend, too. Mummy says that’s why we can’t see him anymore.” Chrys matter-of-factly stated, pushing herself up with the bed’s side rail, jostling Dennis who thankfully remained asleep. “His house is a lot nicer than ours. I wish we could have stayed there instead of Mommy-Jo’s.”

“Aren’t children supposed to be released to the closest relative before the state resorts to foster care?” Caitlin delicately switched subjects, getting back to the matter of taking care of the children over the juicier topic of Barry’s love life.

“Normally yes, but if their mother was…. _clear-headed_ at the time of the arrest and denied that there were any relatives they could go to, social services wouldn’t have done any further investigating.” Joe was already digging in his pocket for his phone. “Now that we know, I can make a few calls, get the kids put with actual family hopefully in a day or two.”

“Or maybe by tonight.” Barry crouched by the cot, getting on Chrys’ level.

“Hey Chrys. Do you remember where Uncle Mark lives?”

# ⚡❄⚡

Uncle Mark, as it turned out, lived in Keystone City, so really, he was just a hop, skip and quick run away. Since Chrys couldn’t remember where the house was located, but knew it was a walkable distance to Baskin Robbins, and there was a park with statues of horses nearby, they used Cisco’s computer-fu to triangulate those reference points until he had a workable search grid for Barry to zip up and down.

After a few awkward knocks on doors, Barry got lucky. One Mark Crawford pulled into his driveway and after a brief conversation, was able to prove both his own identity and connection to the kids with the ID and pictures in his wallet. Barry sped him to Central City, and to his great relief, received the final confirmation that he was the uncle that they were looking for when Chrys joyfully threw herself off the exam table and into his arms.

Dennis was a little more reserved, but still reached up to be held after a few minutes of Chrys dancing around Mark’s legs in unfettered glee.

“Well, that’s two happy endings taken care of.” Eddie and Iris had both joined the gang while Barry had been out Uncle hunting. “Let’s hope the rest of the kids get as good second chances with their new placements.”

That put a pall on celebration. Of course, the other children that weren’t related to their Mini-Metas would remain in foster care. Maybe S.T.A.R. Labs and the Flash should do some kind of outreach for adoption – or at least the sign up of decent families willing to foster. Another thing to look into. Barry was starting to think he should be hiring the Flash an agent.

“After what’s happened, the whole city’s going to be watching over those kids. The next family they go to will be sure to treat them right.”

“The CCPN will make sure of it.” Iris added. “Maybe run a string of spotlight articles on some foster kids and see if it helps get some adoptions going.” She smiled brightly at the picturesque scene of reunited family. “Would maybe help if the Flash was willing to pose for a few pictures.” She gave Barry a knowing wink, and he returned her smile. Maybe he didn’t have to worry about everything after all. Team Flash was full of caring, competent people.

“I want to take a picture with the Flash!” Chrys excitedly interjected. “With Dennis and Uncle Mark and the Flash’s boyfriend!”

A whole team of caring, competent people that were about to rip him a new asshole.

“Flash’s what?” Cisco yelped, dropping the tech he’d been fiddling with. 

“Nothing.” Barry quickly caught the small bracelet on its descent. “Is this the portable Meta Dampener? You did a great job at miniaturizing the circuits.”

“Oh, no. You’re not changing the subject.” Iris was grinning with an evil glee. “I want a picture with this boyfriend too. A group one. I think it’s time we all met him.”

“I think that’s the fastest way he’ll ensure that you never meet him.” Barry gave an awkward smile. “He’s really shy.” _As if._ “I think it might be best if I introduce him to small groups.” _So I only have to disarm one or two of you at a time, when you realize who I’m talking about._ “And that’s if he even still wants to be my boyfriend. I left him in the middle of a date for Flash business. I might have hurt his feelings.”

“Does he know you’re the Flash? If he does, then once you tell him what happened, he’s going to understand.”

Understanding the facts wouldn’t really equate forgiveness when you’d left someone in a warm bed that had only begun to heat up. The only bright spot to the situation was that Barry had been the one left unsatisfied. Len at least couldn’t be mad at being left hanging.

“Somehow I don’t think that me running around the city to play with the kids will make me dropping him like a hot potato when we were…..having a nice time any easier to take.”

Iris was almost vibrating Flash-like, she was so excited to be getting more of the juicy details. “I’d be happy to help you explain-“ her not-so altruistic offer was interrupted by Chrys’ happy exclamation.

“You can take him these!”

The little girl had both hands wrapped around the lip of a plant pot that was nearly as large as she was dragging it backwards into the room. A gorgeous bush of roses as red as Barry’s suit bloomed within. The little girl stepped back and put her hands on her hips authoritatively. “Because you’re supposed to bring flowers when you say you’re sorry.” She tipped her head back to look at Barry and beamed. “And roses mean _love_.”  
The last word was drawn out in that annoyingly adorable emphasis that only children could pull off. It made the other adults laugh and embarrassed Barry further, since it was actually a pretty good idea and it hadn’t come close to crossing his mind on its own.

“I think the Flash can handle this on his own.” Uncle Mark pulled Chrys away while failing to supress a grin. “And boyfriends only sometimes like flowers. When I apologize to Uncle Dave, usually I have to buy a new piece for his Mustang.”

Mercifully, Cisco brought out the two completed child-sized Meta Dampeners, and both children were outfitted with the bracelets that were bedazzled and colour-coded to their preferences. It changed the topic of conversation for a long time, as everyone was required to admire and praise the new bling.

Cisco made it clear to Mark that he could start work on a home sized version of the Dampeners that were responsible for keeping the pipeline and Iron Heights limited to only human strengths, but Mark wouldn’t have it. The children would be allowed to use their powers at home; the bracelets would mainly be used for school and other locations where a tantrum could turn out to be disastrous.

Barry thought it boded very well for the children’s future that they and their abilities were so readily accepted, and would be allowed to grow and develop naturally in their new home. It was further emphasized when he sped them all home, to be greet Uncle Dave as he pulled up in the driveway. Dennis continued to be shy, but Chrys was quick to demonstrate her powers and her affections by letting their diminutive front garden burst into healthy blossoms, and the pear tree in the front yard accelerated into harvest immediately; ripe fruits dropping into the yard, into the street, right onto the roof of the car…..

Dave managed a squeak of surprise in response, but still embraced the trio in welcome. The man’s obvious shock had Barry chuckling – Mark might be buying more car parts very soon. Especially once Dennis became comfortable enough to show off his own talents. Maybe they should have brought some of Chrys’ readily made apologizes from the lab.

And once Barry had that thought, it was hard not to let it take over. He zipped back to S.T.A.R. Labs, carefully avoiding the Iris inquisition and stealthily grabbed his phone.

⚡U Home? ⚡

❄Holy crap, is the Rogues’ newest Bank-robbing rival actually a kid?❄

Trust Len to be on top of the latest villainy.

⚡Yes and no.  
It’s been a weird day.  
Can I drop by real quick? ⚡

❄You can, but I’m not alone.❄

⚡I understand.  
Is there a good time to meet you on the front porch? ⚡

❄Give me two minutes, and I’m all yours. ❄

Relieved, Barry put his plan into action, changing back into his civvies and making a pass through the cortex when the rest of Team Flash was distracted. He made perfect time to Len’s suburban safehouse, showing up just as the thief was quietly closing the door.

“Welcome back. I take it the streets of Central City are once again free from the tyranny of playground bullies?” Len gave Barry a smirk, sticking his hands in his pockets. “Maybe you need to turn your prison cells into a daycare centre.”

“We’ll probably aim more for a day camp with Meta lessons.” Barry admitted bashfully. “Look, I know it’s late. I just wanted to come by and apologize for leaving so suddenly.” He thrust the single rose he’d purloined from the bush at the older man. “And if you do forgive me, then I’d like to make good on the bargain from our first date, and give you a goodnight kiss.”

Eyes lighting up, Len accepted the blossom with a reverence he couldn’t conceal. “You don’t have to apologize. I knew the score when I signed up for….us.” He tapped the delicate blossom against his chin. “I’m really happy you came back though.”

Barry relaxed a fraction, so relieved that Len wasn’t (understandably) upset about his untimely exit. “I’m so glad. It’s just….this will probably happen again. No, it will definitely happen again. And it’s not that it means that you’re not important or than anything or anyone is more important than _you_ , I just….if I can keep people from being hurt…” His voice trailed off helplessly, not sure what he could say that would really make the situation better.

“Barry.” Leonard interrupted with fond exasperation. “I get it. You’re on call. Like so many of the city’s other emergency workers. Sometime in the future I might flake out on a date because I’m busy plotting to rob a bank. Or because I’ve been _arrested_ for trying to rob a bank. It’s just something we’ll have to learn to tolerate from one another.”

It made Barry laugh, and didn’t that make Len look so pleased to hear the sound. He held out a hand. “Now come up here and join me. I’m still waiting for my goodnight kiss.” It was a command wrapped around the promise of petal-soft lips and sweet nothings, and Barry couldn’t resist.

A hop up the steps and Barry enthusiastically caught Len’s lips with his own. Arms wrapped around his neck, ruffling his hood hair into something that couldn’t be salvaged until he’d spent some serious time with a mirror.  
“Mmmm. Dammit.” Len panted against his mouth between kisses. “Lisa and Mick are here, and they’re not going to leave even if we fuck on the coffee table.” He caught Barry’s lower lip between his teeth, nipping gently. “You know I’d take you to bed and forgive the hell out of you if I could.”

Barry snorted, ruining their moment. “So romantic.”

“I’ll say.”

Barry nearly coughed out his heart at the sound of Lisa’s voice. “You could at least invite him in, Lenny.” The younger of the Snart siblings had stuck her head out a window, and was delightedly watching their tender reunion. “There’s still two pizzas left, and Mick’ll be going on a beer run soon. Plenty for all.”

“Oh, I didn’t want to intrude-“

Lisa wasn’t having it, actually climbing out of the window and onto the porch to shove both men towards the front door. “Lenny’s just being rude, keeping you out here all to himself. Of course you can come in and watch the game with us. It’ll give us more time to get to know one another; it’s quieter then the bar.” A roar from the living room as someone scored made that almost a lie.

“I think you already know enough about my boyfriend.” Len glowered at Lisa. “So stop hanging off of him and pretending that you’re trying to make him _your_ boyfriend.”

“But I don’t know anything.” Lisa had in fact, linked her arm in Barry’s and was guiding him to a faded green velvet couch that had seen better days. “All that I really know is that Barry’s business gets him beaten up by our neighbours. So, Barry, just what is your business, and how does it cause you such damage?” Lisa placed Barry in the middle of the couch, taking up the space to his left in an interested pose.

Len took the spot on his right, and immediately pulled Barry against him, almost into his lap. Barry nervously darted a glance at Mick, who didn’t appear to give any fucks about the Snart power play going on. Hopefully it would stay that way.

“Actually,” Barry started carefully. There was no way he’d be able to keep up a detailed lie in a room of Master Fibbers. So the best idea would be to tell select pieces of the truth. “I work for Meta Human-Human relations. I was in the area because I was responding to an issue about Metas in distress.”

“It’s true.” Len jumped in, probably not confident in Barry’s ability for deceit. “You heard about the kids that trashed downtown today? Barry helped take care of them after the Flash stopped them.”

“The news said their mother was brainwashing them, was that true?” Lisa looked at Barry with wide eyes. “And I though our family was the most fucked up in Central City.”

“Foster mother.” Barry corrected without thinking and then blushed when all three Rogues turned to look at him. Was he supposed to keep that confidential? What was Meta-Flash etiquette exactly? He hastened to explain, watching Lisa’s and Mick’s faces darken as he described the children’s living situation. Len’s fingers rubbed up and down Barry’s spine like it was his touchstone, and it slowly dawned on Barry that he was probably the only one in the room that had gone through the social system and wound up in a loving (and permanent) house. It was a sad fact – another way he and Len were different halves of the same coin. _There for the grace of God, go I._

“But in the end, we were able to track down the Meta-children’s uncle. So that reunites them with family. Central City Picture News is going to run articles about the other children, and hopefully they’ll get placed with better families, or even adopted this time.” Barry tried to emphasize the positive. “And I think the CCPD are going to make sure that Social Services take a lot closer look at their foster placements.”

“Not for long.” Lisa’s normal devil-may-care smile (which Barry had finally noticed was a perfect echo of Leonard’s) had turned into a pensive baring of teeth. “They’ll have other issues, more Metas, more criminals, hell, more parades to chaperone and the health and safety of Central City’s unluckiest kiddies will be the lowest priority.”

“Then I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.” Barry gave Len’s knee a quick retaliatory squeeze as the thief’s fingers stopped their vertical tracings, and gave him a warning jab at the waist.

“And who are you to be so sure that’ll work?” Lisa gave him a suspicious sneer. “A concerned citizen, waving a petition around? Or are you one of the social workers that love to stick their noses where it doesn’t belong?”

Another warning jab at Barry’s side indicated Barry was treading on very thin ice.

“No, I work for Meta-human-human relations at S.T.A.R. Labs. We’re starting up a program for people that were affected from the Particle Accelerator explosion. We’re going to be offering to help Meta Humans train to use their abilities safely. Or if they prefer, offer ways to have the option to null their powers when it’s not convenient.” Barry took a deep breath. “So today the presence of Meta-Children has been brought to our attention, and the easy abuse from Meta-Foster parents. We’re not going to forget that. We work with the CCPD and CCPN, so we’re going to make sure that no one forgets what or who is most important.”

“Shit.” Len whispered behind him. Barry started to turn to see where he had gone wrong, but Lisa was already leaning over him to give her brother a death glare.

“So _you_ get to have a cute, do-gooder nerd that _home delivers you flowers,_ while I’m not allowed to even _call_ Cisco, because it might ruin future heists?”

Whoops.

Lisa only had to turn her head a fraction to be nose-to-nose with Barry. “You know Cisco?”

Barry wasn’t sure that it was actually a question. “Umm Yes? I mean, I know he works in the engineering.”

“Give me your phone.” It was a demand not to be ignored. Barry gingerly took it out of his pocket with two fingers and passed it to Lisa. Leonard sighed behind him.

“Now you’ve done it.” A hot pass of breath at Barry’s ear made his stomach flutter eagerly, even with the chastisement. “Do you know how it was to convince her to pass up on Ramon for her fun? She’s going to turn him inside out, and it won’t work out well for any of us.”

“Sorry.”

Leonard clicked his tongue softly. “Not as sorry as you’re going to be if you haven’t cleared you’re phone recently.”

Barry could see Lisa scrolling through his contacts intently. Luckily Cisco had long written an app that erased any messages that contained words relating to Flash activity after Barry read or sent them. “She won’t find anything.”

“So confident.” Leonard’s teeth grazed his earlobe. “So you deleted _everything_?” Lisa pulled out her own phone, adding what Barry assumed was Cisco’s number.

“It’s auto-deleted.” Barry whispered back.

“Shame. Though I guess that means I should just send you a new picture every day to provide you with off-hours entertainment.”

 _Pictures_. Barry stopped breathing. His phone security took care of Flash texts. It didn’t do shit for pictures. He still had every photo-flirt that he and Len had passed back and forth including…..

“Hrmp. No wonder Lenny’s so goddamn happy all the time.” Mick burst out laughing as Lisa tossed Barry’s phone back to him. A fiery blush flooded Barry’s cheeks, and he could feel Len shake a little in laughter underneath him. 

“Now if you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I have a nerd of my own to sext.” Lisa wiggled her eyebrows at Len, who scoffed at her.

“I’m happy all the time because my nerd’s not the Flash’s tailor.” Leonard yelled after his departing sister. Barry nearly pinched him for his hypocrisy. “And the Flash isn’t going to be happy if you mess with his minions again. Believe me, _that_ I know!” 

“Cisco’s a big boy. If he wants to date Lisa, I’m sure that he will be careful for both their sakes.” Barry gave Len a side eye. “Or does he just live in fear of a supervillain shovel talk?”

Mick snickered into his beer. “He’s not going to do that again. Last boytoy Snart gave a shovel talk to actually _tattled_ to Lisa.” He took his gaze off the game long enough to give Barry a wink. “Bike didn’t run for three months from what she did to it.”

Barry chuckled and then yelped when Len pinched his ass. “What was that for?”

“You’re _my_ boyfriend. That means you always have to be on _my_ side.”

“I am!” 

Len poked him in the ribs. “Lisa’s knowledge of my methods means that it’s up to you to convince Cisco not to date Lisa.”

Barry rolled over until they were face to face, completely forgetting about Mick. “And why would I want to do that?”

“Because Cisco’s got a lot of potential, and Lisa will chew him up and spit him out.” Len didn’t even blink while listing his sister’s worse qualities. “She’s not really the sticking around type.”

Barry quirked a brow. “You want me to talk Cisco out of it before she loves him and leaves him?" His mouth trembled at the effort to hold back a smile. Protective big brother Len was adorable.

“I want you to make sure no one gets hurt.” Len shifted underneath him, not unaffected by the heat radiating from Barry’s body against his own. “You’re good at that.”

“I’m good at a lot of things, it just takes practice.” Barry teased, leaning forward to brush his nose against his favourite thief. The innuendo made Len smile.

“If you two are going to fuck, at least go into another room.” Mick rumbled from his armchair, startling Barry out of his amorous intentions. This was just not the time with so many Rogues in the house.

As if agreeing, Leonard slouched deeper into the cushion, letting Barry rest on top of him and angled them both towards the TV.

“Later.” He whispered against Barry’s ear. “ _After_ you talk to Cisco.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just be transparent, the powers that the Mama-Jo character has was inspired by an episode of "Alpha's". I've tweaked the sci-fi science, (and removed the torture and murder the character could inflict) and given entirely different motives, so there's not a cut-and-paste issue but I thought it only fair to mention the part that didn't spring from my own brain.
> 
> Had to try a chapter with Meta children because I'm really surprised we haven't seen any yet in the show. (Or been given an explanation why dark matter doesn't affect a non-mature body.) And I decided to go with making the main Meta villain their foster mother instead of their real mother so I could bring in the Uncles and have a child out Barry to the rest of the gang. Because I probably don't make his life hard enough.
> 
> So now both the Flash Family and the Rogue Family know of the relationship, just not the total "with who". Their secret's not out yet, but the walls will be closing in.


End file.
